Overdrive
by SotF
Summary: Part one of the Speed Freak saga. Halloween chaos, but what side does the chaos really side with. Xander's costume choice leads to a suprising result. Enter the Hedgehog.
1. Shifting Gears

Xander nearly growled as Jonathan picked up the last of the plastic guns. It meant that he would have to find an entirely new costume with the cash he had, the two bucks he already planned on spending seemed small so be smiled that he had a twenty, it just meant that he'd have to have one burger as opposed to two for lunch for the rest of the week.  
  
He glanced around deciding to try to find something that the troll wouldn't be able to give him a detention over. That's when he spotted it the perfect costume; it reminded him of good times before he knew about the darkness. The games that he, Jessie, and Willow had played for hours at Jessie's. His eyes widened even more, the costume only cost a buck, but it still needed something.  
  
A glance into the bargain bin got him a small bagful of plain gold rings and various colored, oversized gems for another dollar, it surprised him, but it was a good kind of surprise.  
  
Xander checked out while he watched Buffy moon over a noble woman costume.  
  
"I'll catch you later," he yelled with a smirk as he slipped out, watching Wills and Buff reply with a wave.  
  
The blue costumed Xander knocked slowly on Buffy's house's door. When Joyce answered, he chuckled at the odd look she gave him.  
  
"And who are you supposed to be?"  
  
"The fastest thing alive," he chuckled, "Sonic the Hedgehog!"  
  
He had to duck to get through the doorway, the extra two feet the costume added with the spikes made him just taller than the doorframe. He chuckled as he leaned against the chair as Buffy and Willow descended the stairs.  
  
"Xander, isthatwhatIthinkitis?" Willow started up with the rapid fire babble.  
  
"Yep, Sonic the Hedgehog in the flesh," he said with a chuckle, "Or at least the cloth and plastic."  
  
Buffy chuckled slightly and started to say something, but Joyce interrupted, "Well, you've got to get moving or you'll be late."  
  
Xander nodded and dashed out the door.  
  
"Spike, the strange man is mixing things all up," Drusilla chuckled as she slipped around the room as if dancing to a tune that only existed in her own head, "And the slayer won't be around for the moon."  
  
"What was that Luv?" the blond vampire responded, "The slayer'll be out a commission?"  
  
"But the blue one is coming, he scares Miss Edith and me, the birds won't talk about him," she said, seeming to pull back.  
  
"Don't worry luv, we'll take a few others with us and we'll bag us a slayer!"  
  
Sonic shook his head as he climbed to his feet. He wasn't where he had been, had he tripped and fallen through a barrier into a new Zone or something?  
  
The blue streak chuckled to himself for a moment before a scream alerted him to trouble. He glanced into his pack, not remembering having grabbed it and his eyes opened wide.  
  
Maybe he had hit his head and forgot the last few hours or something, because he was carrying a very large number of power rings and chaos emeralds.  
  
"Well, I guess it's time to have some fun," he said as he burst off like a hurricane, his passage leaving a trail of set off car alarms and other such chaos as he rushed towards the scream.  
  
He skidded to a halt besides a redhead staring at a sheet covered form on the ground.  
  
"Waz up?" he yelled behind her, causing her to jump.  
  
"Xander?" she said, staring at him, "IwashelpingthekidswhenIgotaheadachandfell overthenIwasstandingherelookingatmeinmycostume."  
  
"Well, first off, I'm not Xander," Sonic shrugged, "And secondly, you sound like Tails does after he's had far too much sugar and caffeine  
  
"What?" the hacker managed to stammer.  
  
"Names Sonic," the hedgehog responded, "And I'll be right back with some help."  
  
Then a flash and he was gone.  
  
"Drat, I don't know where help is," he said as he skidded to a stop and shot back.  
  
The girl appeared more shocked as he stopped in front of her.  
  
"Uh, where is someone who can help?"  
  
"In the School Library," she responded, pointing in the right direction, "five blocks that direction, Giles should be able to help."  
  
"Thanks," Sonic laughed as he shot off again, "I wonder if they sell chilidogs there?"  
  
He burst through the doors of the school and spent all of three seconds checking doors before he found the right one.  
  
"Yes?" the Brit inside managed to say before he spun around and spotted the blue hedgehog standing there, "Good Lord!"  
  
"You Giles?" Sonic asked, tapping his toe in impatience.  
  
"Yes," the watcher barely managed to say before Sonic grabbed him by the wrist and dashed off, Giles in tow.  
  
"The redhead said that she needed your help," the blue streak explained to the screaming Englishman as he hurtled through the city at nearly two hundred miles per hour, "Don't know what for, could be the little critters throwing a riot."  
  
He skidded to a halt by Willow once more, Giles nearly collapsing as he did so.  
  
"Willow," the watcher asked as he saw the curled up girl standing next to a sheet covered form, "What's wrong?"  
  
"SomehowIbecameaghost, Idon't knowhowIdied, butI'mthereandhereandIcan't touchanything! XanderbecameSonicandIdon'tknowwhereBuffyisand..."  
  
"Wait a minute, Xander became this creature?"  
  
"Hey!" Sonic yelped, "I am not a creature!"  
  
"Yeah, and I became a ghost," Willow said, slowing down now, "And I dressed as a...we...Giles we became our costumes!"  
  
"Good Lord, I'll need my books, and what did you say about Buffy?"  
  
"She dressed up as a noblewoman from a few centuries back."  
  
"You two get to the books," Sonic laughed, "I'll find the girl and meet you there at double speed!"  
  
He flashed off again as a car alarm went off with the shockwave of the hedgehogs passing. The freedom fighter not even touching the ground anymore, his raw speed was carrying him off the ground with the pulses of magic energy his super shoes were giving off.  
  
Sonic avoided the creatures littering the streets with little effort, though several did go tumbling as he roared past like a missile. Then he pulled a barrel roll and id a grind along a handrail before coming to someone who at least seemed to fit the description of this Buffy, unfortunately, she was surrounded by humanoids with odd looking faces.  
  
He reacted as he would if they were Swatbots and hit them with a spindash, turning seven of them to dust before they realized that they were under attack. Then the speed demon took a hit and went sprawling after smashing through a fence.  
  
"See Luv," Spike chuckled to his girl, 'No blue freak can win."  
  
Sonic climbed to his feet, anger rushing through him as a positively evil grin crossed his lips, "Sorry Chuckles, ready to die?"  
  
"No blue rodent can win this one, I'll deal with you in a moment, a slayers blood is callin' me."  
  
Sonics anger hit a new level and the ground started to shake and cracks spread, windows shattering and more alarms going off.  
  
"Spike, the blue one is going to turn all pretty and nasty," the vampiress laughed as she stared at the hedgehog.  
  
"Not now Luv, we've got the slayer now!"  
  
Then Sonics anger burst forth as the emeralds in his bag burned their light through the bag, and a blast of light erupted from the warrior.  
  
"What the hell?" the blond vampire said as he spun, now seeing a golden colored being standing there where the hedgehog had been.  
  
Sonics spices tripled in length as a palpable aura of energy lanced out.  
  
"Playtime," Super Sonic commented, "Is over!"  
  
Then he seemed to vanish in a high pitched roar as both Drusilla and Spike vanished in a trail of light as the streak materialized back into the golden hedgehog on the other side.  
  
"Well, my dear," the warrior said to the frightened noble lady, "I believe that now we get out of here, there are some people looking for you!"  
  
"Now it's getting to freaking dangerous to stay out here," he said as he grabbed the girls wrists and launched himself skywards, leaving a burning streak behind him as he headed back to the library, feeling a strange pull similar to that given off by the emeralds when he was in this form.  
  
His passage blasting the windows in, Sonic dropped the now shrieking girl into the library, "You know, for such an annoyance, you have a freaking large pair of lungs."  
  
"Watch her kiddo's, I've got to check up on something," and he was gone leaving a fading image of himself where he had been.  
  
"This is bad," Willow commented about their now flying ally.  
  
"How so?" Giles commented as he saw Buffy collapse into a dead feint.  
  
"Super Sonic is way up there in power level, and his very passing can cause things to blow up."  
  
"Oh dear," the watcher stammered.  
  
The being in question was hovering over a costume shop, lowering himself and drawing in the power as he touched the ground and shattered the door by his mere presence.  
  
"What the hell?" Ethan screamed as the building shook as if a upper scale earthquake filled it.  
  
"I believe that would be me," Sonic responded as he strode through the shop, eyeing a statue that the power seemed to come from.  
  
"Chaos," the golden warrior laughed, "Raw chaos, in a loose form."  
  
"Erm, yes," the chaos mage responded, still trying to figure this out.  
  
Super Sonic held out the now glowing and vibrating emeralds from his bag that burned his eyes to look at them as they began to resonate and grow.  
  
"Crystal resonance," the being said slowly, "Raw power unlike anything other than the master emerald."  
  
The power surged through Super Sonic and the shaking grew worse as he laughed.  
  
"I can now breach that barrier as well," he continued as he transformed again, Hyper Sonic bursting into being, and the building collapsed around him, crushing the mage and the statue, leaving only Xander standing there, the costume seeming to evaporate into him.  
  
He glanced around at the ruins around him and a grin crossed his lips as he eyed the super emeralds, power rings, and the red shoes with white stripes.  
  
"Cool," he said, "Although I have some strange cravings for chilidogs." 


	2. Acceleration

AN: Just a bit of info, this version of Sonic is sort of a hybrid between the different versions. The games, the shows, the comics, and the movies, one major thing is toning down the collateral damage caused by the transformations. Super Sonic was quite capable of taking out a few blocks when he first changed. Hyper Sonic brought a Zone down around him, so it is rather toned down closer to the games. One of the hardest things is keeping him supplied with Power Rings, but I found the plans for Uncle Chucks emerald powered ring maker that is in Knothole Lake in one of the comics and it's not really that advanced looking, the hard part is getting the emeralds.  
  
Another thing is that I took out a little bit of the beginning, Angelus is just to good of a villain to eliminate him while he's still Angel. As for him sensing vampires, it's more of how the emeralds react to the surrounding area, the very same reason the super powered forms of the Sonic crew seem to have an internal awareness of their surroundings, the demon part just doesn't react the same way, it's not from the world.  
  
RobClark= I know what you mean, originally I just knew about the games, then the show, and then the comics, only recently did I find out about the movies. Did you know that there are now five different Sonic Series, two of which are still in production. The canceled ones are Sonic, The Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog, and Sonic The Hedgehog. The new two are Sonic X and another that I haven't seen, and I really don't want to from what I've heard. I am trying to keep Sonic in that hyper zone of thought, he acts before thinking. It makes for a lot of fun situations with a sharp wit that will probably make Xander's a whole new level and give him the capability of digging himself deeper and deeper problems for himself. But don't worry, Super and Hyper Sonic aren't going to appear again for a while.  
  
Anonymous= Thanks, I'm trying for some more, Xander's going to have some fun with this. And one thing that I'm considering for when and if I add Dawn into this is to give her a related costume, probably just let her have a shot at Tails or Knuckles as I doubt that either Amy, Sally, Cream, Bunnie, or any of the girls would work very well. Knuckles is a probability, actually, so is Amy.  
  
Harry2= Actually, Super Sonic predated DBZ if I remember right, Sonic 2 I believe beat the series and Sonic and Knuckles where Hyper Sonic came from around the same time as they reached Super Saiyan levels in DBZ. But yeah, I am drawing some from it. But please don't give me more ideas on crossovers for this fic, I don't have time to work that type of a side story into this.  
  
Xander had finally managed to relax a bit, still partially wandering what had happened to his costume, but it wasn't the first thing on his mind as he stared at the small pile of gems on his bed, seven of them larger than the rest. The chaos emeralds and the super emeralds, his burden, his problem, his strength.  
  
His mind felt their power pushing against it, soft and reaffirming, the heap of golden rings besides him seemed the same as he messed with some of the junk he had gathered. Without the rings he wouldn't be able to balance out the emeralds enough to consider trying a transformation, and he glanced down at the open comic book that displayed a diagram of a devise Sonic's Uncle Chuck had invented to use Emerald Power to make Power Rings.  
  
If he could use their power, he couldn't risk running out with the way the city worked.  
  
It had been a while, months in fact, since he had become Sonic and from the events that had just happened, he would need to become his other self to deal with a serious threat. Angel, the vampire with a soul, had become Angelus, a homicidal maniac, and had been causing paths of devastation through the city and had managed to obtain a creature known as the judge.  
  
He didn't have a clue as to how he could win and he would be heading to the mall to try out the only hope he currently had. Stuffing handfuls of the rings into a pack, Xander hoped that he could do this, it was the only hope he had.  
  
Xander skidded to a halt in front of the mall, he knew that the others were there, unsure what they planned to do, but he had to do what he could. He slipped the pair of sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped it on with a grim expression as he grabbed hold of a pair of the Power Rings and focused his mind.  
  
He felt the power radiating from his foes as the two rings activated in a pulse of pure, white light.  
  
Buffy had tried, she knew that they didn't have what it would take to win. The Judge was immune to her weapons and hand to hand was impossible. It was only made worse by the cackling Angelus who stood there.  
  
The Judge prepared to attack as the others dove for cover. But then the lights exploded in a chain reaction as light poured through the building, blinding light.  
  
When her vision cleared, a new figure stood between her and the demons. An odd blue figure that definitely wasn't human.  
  
"Howdy boys, did you miss me?" Sonic crowed as he pulled out another ring.  
  
Everyone seemed shocked as the hedgehog took a bow, twirling the ring on one figure, "Ya know, this mall is rather lame, it doesn't even have a place that sells chilidogs."  
  
"Who...who dares!" the Judge raged with a mask of raw hatred.  
  
"The name is Sonic," the speed freak laughed, "Sonic the Hedgehog, and you know, chuckles, you really ought to see a good plastic surgeon, your nose job seems to have been fudged."  
  
The demon roared and launched his attack at the blue streak, only to have a flash of light intercept it midair only inches from the target.  
  
"How.." it sputtered.  
  
"A little plaything of mine called an instashield, good for doing lots of things, intercepting bullets, demon attacks, and impacts from cars when I don't have the time to maneuver around them, but hey, for such a slow mo, you ain't worth my time today," Sonic answered with a laugh as he tapped his toe in boredom, yawning, "Let's see what you've got!"  
  
"You fool, no weapon forged..." the Judge began before he was interrupted.  
  
Sonic held up the ring, "What moron said that Power Rings were forged?"  
  
The golden ring began to glow and lightning coursed around it and into Sonic, "Let's see what ya got!"  
  
The freedom fighter curled up and spun in place like a buzz saw before launching forwards in a spindash that rebounded off the wall after seeming to pass right through the demon, leaving Sonic standing atop the concessions stand as he landed.  
  
"Ha, see you can't win," the Judge chimed.  
  
"Oh?" Sonic said as he reached down and grabbed a single piece of candy and chucked it at the monster, "Really?"  
  
The hit was enough and the demon fell apart, cut clean in half vertically as the hedgehog continued, "See, you weren't fast enough, neither to dodge..." he began to brush his hands off, "Nor to even see the hit?"  
  
He leaned back and laughed to himself as he noticed the Slayer staring at him.  
  
"What?" he laughed, "Forgot to tie your shoe or something slow poke?"  
  
Buffy's clenched fists shook, but neither Sonic nor Buffy noticed that Angelus had taken off at a dead run to get the hell out of there. He'd heard stories from some of the other vampires that this Sonic had taken down Spike and Dru without even really trying, and to face him would be suicide. The stories were bad, the guy could transform and fly and cause quakes, and well, Angelus may be one vicious bastard, but he wasn't stupid and he wasn't suicidal. Unfortunately he slipped where water was leaking after Sonic's path sliced open a sprinkler.  
  
But then Sonic reacted, pulling out two more Power Rings and bursting off, leaving a trail of illusory images of himself as he slammed into the vamp.  
  
"Hi ya Wingless," he chimed as he kicked the vampire down again and sitting on his back, "You know, your goodie self was someone that I almost liked, you know he reminded me of another friend of mine, Knuckles, but then again, he never became a butthead and tried to start killing people either."  
  
Sonic hopped up, allowing the vamp to climb to his feet as he leaned up against the wall.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Oh, the usual, peace, harmony, and more money than god."  
  
The vampire just looked confused at that one, but Angelus attacked, he wasn't about to just let himself get dusted.  
  
Sonic easily dodged five punches and two kicks before he got bored.  
  
"You know, for such a slow creature," the Hedgehog commented as he dodged another strike, "You really need to work on that anger management problem."  
  
The blue streak pinned the vamp against the wall, "Step one, admit you've got a problem, then say aw screw it and," Sonic leaped clear and dropped into a spindash, beheading the bloodsucker, "Use up that anger dusting vamps."  
  
The freedom fighter laughed and dashed out of the exit hall and leaped up next to the diced demon and paused, taking a look around the now empty mall.  
  
"Ya know," Sonic laughed as he hopped down to the ground, "Chuckles there," he pointed to the bisected Judge, "Shouldn't have even had a shot at coming around, my sources said that it took a long while for that bum's parts to be assembled."  
  
Buffy just stood their blinking at the strange creature that stood in front of her.  
  
"What?" the anthromorphic hedgehog asked, scratching his head, "Is there something on my face?"  
  
She still stared.  
  
"You know, at least you're not as loud as the shrinking violet," Sonic commented, provoking no reaction, as he reached out and tapped her on the nose twice, "Beep! Beep!"  
  
Her mouth dropped open.  
  
"Sayonara suckers," Sonic crowed and he was gone with a sonic boom and leaving a residual image that faded out after he was gone.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Buffy managed to stammer as she glanced along the path the strange creature had taken out of the mall.  
  
"Hi ya," Xander said coming into view from the direction of the mall entrance, "Sorry I'm late?" 


	3. Turbo Boost

AN: I'm still working through some ideas for later on in the series, especially now that I've definitely decided on Dawn being Knuckles later on, mainly for when I use Glory eventually, although Dawn didn't have access to the Power Rings before the fight, Glory may be strong, but she isn't up to flying around at those speeds.  
  
Yes, that does mean that he requires Power rings to transform, it takes a pair of them to force the changes between his human and hedgehog forms. He still doesn't really know how to go Super or Hyper.

TopQuark- Tanks, I'm trying!  
  
Aleh- Thanks, I'm trying to keep Sonic's attitude right for this, he's something else that the Sunnydale residents haven't encountered much, I am still leaning towards the Comics and the series with the Freedom Fighters.  
  
WBH21X- I'm going to get into that, I'm running on a possibility that it could be, they get some dreams from the possession but no active memories. Willow does though because her mind didn't change and is starting to suspect that Xander knows what's going on, Giles just met Sonic and Super Sonic but didn't know that Sonic was Xander. Buffy doesn't really remember the blue creature she saw, thinking that it was another of the kiddies. Xander isn't really talking about it as he hasn't really used it that much and is actively trying to keep it from getting well known due to him reading far too many comic books. Plus now with Angelus dusted he has another reason, unstable Buffy. But along with that, Xander only has a few memories of his time as Sonic, and is working on accessing the forms of Super and Hyper Sonic

It had turned into an odd night for Xander, Buffy repeatedly explaining Sonic to Giles who was looking confused, remembering his encounters with Sonic and with Super Sonic on Halloween. Buffy was also on the verge of tears. Willow was shoot suspicious glances at Xander.  
  
"I'm telling you Giles, it was some sort of demon," Buffy repeated.  
  
Xander fought back a grin as he realized that Buffy would try to take him out if she knew. He thanked his planning at having another few Power Rings in his pack as a just in case situation.  
  
"Anyway," Xander interrupted, "If it was a demon, why would it take out the Judge, not to mention deadboy? I mean, both of them were trying to kill us and it didn't attack you?"  
  
"Yes," Giles responded remembering his own experiences with Xander's other form, "If it is the same being as appeared on Halloween, he's saved you two times now."  
  
"But then why did he kill Angel?" Buffy asked, a sadness passing into her eyes.  
  
"He didn't," Xander commented his mind flashing back to the efforts taken to save Sonic when he had been roboticized, Sonic's friends had saved him, but at a risk he would have rather they hadn't taken, everyone turning to look at him, "He took out Angelus, Angel could have still been in there, but in my opinion, Angel would have wanted us to deal with Angelus before anything horrific could occur."  
  
"How can you say that?" the blond snapped, eyes accusingly on Xander, "You didn't even show up on time?"  
  
"Look, in my opinion, we didn't know how to get Angel back and he did say that he hated himself for what he had done before he got his soul, it means that he at least has his redemption now, he's not in hell for it."  
  
Xander turned and started to leave, "Anyway, I've got some homework to do and a massive headache, I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Xander," Willow yelled, "I'll go with you, if you're not feeling well, I'll make sure you get there alright."  
  
"You don't have to Wills," Xander said, starting to regret his excuse.  
  
"You're my friend, it's my job to make sure that you're okay," she snapped back as Xander looked to Oz for help, who shook his head.  
  
Finally, he shrugged and held the doors open as they walked out of the library.  
  
They walked in silence, Willow trying to figure out how to start the conversation.  
  
And then, everything went wrong, a large, lizard like Demon dropped down on them from the trees.  
  
"Wills," Xander said as he unconsciously reached for a pair of Power Rings, another demon dropping behind them, "Run, I'll try to catch up, get help, but I've got to cause a distraction."  
  
She nodded and bolted as Xander slipped two rings free of his bag.  
  
The creatures circled him as he remained calm, focusing for an instant as a smile crossed his lips, "I'm waiting!"  
  
Willow spun as she heard that, turning to watch a perfectly ready Xander clutching two, large, golden rings that seemed to cackle with inner light.  
  
"I knew it," she hissed as a white light burst from her friend the instant the two lizard monsters lunged.  
  
Xander smiled as he shifted into Sonic the Hedgehog as the light died down.  
  
The two creatures slammed into each other, finding their prey missing.  
  
Sonic landed from his leap atop a bench, "Ya know, if it wasn't enough that you were dumb and slow, you are sooo Ug-ly!"  
  
He deftly evaded a bite by one of them, razor sharp teeth missing by a fraction of an inch.  
  
Waving one white gloved hand in front of his face, "Phew, can I interest you in some breath mints?"  
  
The other lunged, Sonic grabbing it by the crest on it's head and ending up in a handstand above the creature, "And talk about impulsive, anyway, why does this conversation seem to be so one sided?"  
  
The first lunged, jaws closing on the others head as the blue streak leaped clear to land on his feet, snatching out yet another Power Ring as the bitten demon hit the ground, dead.  
  
"Aw, ain't that to bad, tweedle dumb just got his head bitten off by tweedle dumber!"  
  
The monster roared and charged.  
  
Sonic seemed to materialize, skidding to a stop, behind it as it stumbled, having been tripped by a blue blur, "Watch our step, and well, it seems you aren't set on mute!"  
  
Entering a spin dash, the hedgehog activated the power ring and blasted forwards, carving the creature up like a turkey.  
  
He careened to a halt as his eyes caught a flash of movement and a blur of red.  
  
Leaping up he groaned, "So the secrets out, huh?"  
  
"Seems so Xander," Willow almost growled as he shifted back.  
  
"Well, guess it wasn't the cravings for chilidogs that finally gave it away then," he commented.  
  
The redhead just stared at that response, whatever she had expected, that wasn't the one.  
  
"Hello?" Xander said, tapping on her forehead, "Anyone home? Earth to Wills?"  
  
Eventually they reached Xander's, Willow still seemed floored  
  
"Why?" she finally managed to say, "Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"What?" Xander answered, "Tell you I could change into a seven foot tall, blue, anthromorphic hedgehog? Heck, I can barely put my own mind around it, besides, it's a secret weapon, I don't use it unless I have to, or at least I didn't until the Judge when I had to access Sonic for it, and to stop those lizard creatures, it just wasn't something I wanted to risk, especially since Buffy and maybe you would have tried to get G-man to take that away, I couldn't be normal again, not after I learned what I could do."  
  
Willow shook her head slowly, "That still doesn't explain what you did to Angel."  
  
"I answered that in front of everyone, but another reason involves some of the nightmares I've had from Sonic," Xander said slowly pulling a few issues of the comics from a shoe box and handing them to her, "Remember these, I still get them, do you remember Mecha Sonic, I don't think that Angel would want to be responsible for killing off his friends, even if it was Angelus at the helm. My nightmares involve Mecha Sonic killing off Sally, Knuckles and all of his other friends."  
  
"Oh Xander," Willow whispered, giving him a hug. 


	4. Flashes

AN: Well, another chapter finished and well, this is still just as fun to write, it's starting to get a bit more difficult to keep coming up with Sonic's quips and comments though, perhaps I ought to reuse a few though. Also, I'm looking for ideas as to how to still get Willow the Wiccan since dark deadboy was the one who seemed to be the catalyst in the series, that got eliminated before that could happen. The reason he killed Angelus though is because he understood Angel and Angelus better than anyone else could have, but that doesn't mean that inside he's as jovial about it as Sonic pretends, part of him uses Sonic as a mask for what needs to be done.  
  
JWolf- Yeah, most of the series' seem to do that, though the comics seem to give him a whole lot more and the series with the Freedom Fighters did a little bit. Mainly with Sonic he seems to act first and maybe think later, Xander's got a lot of that in him now, but its toned down a bit. Yeah, Buffy's going to be fun to write that atomic blast. When he transforms he gets more of Sonic's personality, but it's cranked up by his views of keeping things separate to keep people off his tracks. As for Angel, I originally did, but at that point it was a one shot, when I kept on getting ideas to keep it going, plus the reviews asking me to, I changed it, the chapter has been modified, evil deadboy was just to good a villain to eliminate early, and it was also something that would let me show some more of how Xander thinking, at least he equates vampirism with robotization. For Dawnie, I'm thinking Knuckles primarily because I can see her swiping some of the Power Rings and prompting a clash between Sonic influenced Xander and Knuckles influenced Dawn.  
  
Janus had watched the chaos empowered warrior with a snarl. He wasn't permitted to interfere with the child that sapped his power, the one who now held keys to a power greater than the gods themselves. It was infuriating, and he wouldn't take it lying down.  
  
A cruel, vengeful grin slipped across the god's lips as he watched the world through a glowing orb, the view switching to his current plan, direct action was forbidden, but he could use what was his to strike out at the one who dared to challenge him. A dark form appeared in the orb, and a positively evil smile appeared followed by a bone chilling cackle, soon...  
  
Xander smiled as he walked through the school, as usual, he was tapping his pencil as he glanced over at Willow. The redhead was paying rapt attention to the teacher, and Xander was bored out of his mind. It was one of the downsides of his newer abilities, his mind operated at a much, much faster speed than the before, somehow he had ended up in a physics class, which surprisingly enough, was something he had an odd talent for due to the strange fact that Sonic, a creature that routinely broke the laws of physics, was interested in. The unsurprising part of that was how he got interested in it, namely explosives, though that was something Xander found far too risky to mess with due to lack of actual training.  
  
Fortunately, Willow had seen his side of keeping his transformation abilities secret. It was something that couldn't have happened better, though Buffy had been getting more and more ticked off at his alter ego as he could show up and one up the slayer only to vanish in a flash after a few sarcastic comments, leaving the slayer in a constant bad mood, even going so far as to try to keep Willow and Xander from helping her, prompting more and more appearances by the blue streak.  
  
It was funny to watch from a his point of view, Buffy let them help with the research part, Xander trying to learn enough about the various species he could encounter at the same time as looking for what was required, he knew that if he could take down some of the demons only with preparation, and besides he could look cool doing it.  
  
The bell rang and Xander slipped out of the building, spotting Snyder yelling at Buffy across the parking lot as he walked away, shaking his head. It was then that an idea flashed through his mind and a grin across his lips, it would be fun to show the troll up, or at least give him a stroke.  
  
Sonic rushed through the streets like a gas station on fire, a pack full of Power Rings on his back. He'd after his and Wills run in with the lizard demons, more of the buggers had been showing up, in larger numbers, as well as greater annoyance. And another thing was that he still had no idea what the hell they were, perhaps he ought to expand his plans to dropping in on the G-man for information on the pests.  
  
It didn't take him long to find a group of the cold blooded irritants, four of them, and as usual, he pulled out one of the glowing, golden rings.  
  
Leaping onto the fountain, he slowly shook his head, "You know, even for nearly brain dead morons, you're reaching new levels of the meaning of dumb, I mean can't you take the hint and buzz off after I don't know how many...I mean I lost count after fifteen or was it twenty.. of you I've slapped silly. I mean come on, just how stupid you are?"  
  
One of them, larger than the others, roared and lunged, the others right behind it.  
  
"Well, I guess that answers that one," Sonic quipped as he leaped out of the way, "Ask a stupid question..."  
  
The fountain shattered as he activated the Power Ring, the beasts now circling him. Speeding up to evade a tail strike with a backflip followed by a figure eight dash ending up between the four creatures, "And people wander why I don't date...I have to beat them off as a living buzz saw."  
  
The four attacked with a vengeance, Sonic simply leaping clear to simply watch them rip into each other in a feeding frenzy, "Of course, they seem to normally end up killing each other first."  
  
He watched for a moment before he crossed his arms, foot tapping a rapid tempo on the brick path, "I'm waiting scales for brains."  
  
He checked his watch as he noticed the large one rising from the bloodbath, already badly injured, and roaring in a blood rage.  
  
"Well, took ya long enough, even your moves crawl muscle head," the blue hedgehog commented as he hit it with a spindash, finishing the fight with ease, "Ya know, it's times like this that I miss ol' Robuttnik, I mean at least he didn't throw the same plan out over and over again."  
  
He grabbed the head of the largest one and smirked, "I guess this gives new meaning to a little off the top."  
  
Chuckling at his own joke, Sonic flashed off, carrying the head with him, needing some sort of answers.  
  
The doors to the library crashing open were the first sign for Rupert Giles that it wouldn't be a normal day. He turned to face the doors with a slow, practiced motion, "Yes, Buffy...What!"  
  
"Hi ya Chuckie," Sonic laughed as the Watcher dropped the pile of books he was carrying, only to find that the hedgehog had placed the severed head of the lizard demon in the now empty hands, "You don't mind if I call you Chuckie do you?"  
  
The watcher tried to respond, but only an incoherent stream of noise seemed to come out.  
  
'I guess not, well Chuckie, these things seem to be popping up in town like the blood suckers blondie fights do, I mean dozens and dozens of them in bunches."  
  
He seemed to dematerialize and rematerialize sitting on a chair, feet up on the table, "I mean, dumb, ugly, and slow, not to mention the stinky breath, morons as well."  
  
"Erm, why'd you come to me?" Giles managed to say, the confusion still playing across his face.  
  
"Well, the red head said you could help on the night where everything went all weird and the kiddies went all roar and the blond and the wacko went all 'gonna kill the slayer,' whatever the hell that is, though I'm starting to think it's the shrinking violet I brought here, so I put twelve and twelve together, and got, well, whatever the hell I got."  
  
"I see," the watcher said as he started to clean his glasses slowly, "I'll need to research the creature, how can I contact you?"  
  
"I'll see ya again Chuckie," and then he was off, time for phase two.  
  
Sonic compared the troll to Robuttniks annoying sidekick, Snively, the image and the voice was an uncanny match, and so was the moron's attitude. He slipped to a silent stop behind the pest as he stalked the halls.  
  
"Ya know you sure are sneaky for such an ugly one," Sonic commented, smiling as he saw the short man jump.  
  
"You...you...you," the little man stuttered as he backed away.  
  
"I what?"  
  
"You aren't real!"  
  
Adjusting his glove Sonic stared at him and then punched him in the gut, "I seem real enough."  
  
The troll passed out.  
  
"Da-ude, that is sooooo rude!"  
  
Acting at full throttle, Sonic grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him outside, tying him up to the cable for the flagpole and running him up to the top with a quick salute and a laugh before blasting off once more. 


	5. Pedal To The Metal

AN: If you didn't understand Janus in the last chapter, he's the one who powered the costume spell, but it backfired when the Chaos Emeralds stole a lot of his power to become Super Emeralds. So the guy has a reason to be rather ticked off at Sonic and by proxy, Xander. Lets me use a recurring villain without going into the repeating much, sure the Scoobies fought Glory, but she wasn't really much more than a tank, little in the ways of brains with far to much brawn, Janus also isn't out to destroy the world, he just wants revenge. Also, it gives me a reason to use some Robotnik style lines when his plans go wrong. Another side note, a friend of mine who's been reading these before I post them asked me what I listen to as I write them, namely the playlist I have is the theme songs from Sonic X and the Sonic Adventures (the one involving the Freedom Fighters) and the song Sonic Boom from the Sonic CD game.  
  
Brutal2003- Mainly what would make it funny is when they both drop out of the forms and figure out what just happened.  
  
JWolf- This chapter explains what they are, or at least the first of Janus' plans. The second idea is a great one, I need to go look at a lot of the episodes with Jenny in it. I can't remember if she revealed who she was before Angel assembled the Judge? But it's not going to happen for a few more chapters anyway, just some fore planning to keep from causing plot holes for people who don't have the time to always reread the other chapters, (I'm not putting anyone down, I do the same thing!) by replacing things. Though perhaps there is a way for the Chaos Emeralds to mess with it, or Janus causing more trouble.  
  
Xander smirked as he waited outside the library doors listening to Giles try to explain how Sonic the Hedgehog showed up to leave a severed demon's head asking what it was, only to leave and apparently drive the principal insane and dangling from the top of the flagpole and leave him there.  
  
He finally decided to enter, clamping down on the grin that had remained in place since the previous day's stress reliever. Mainly, what he used was his frustration at remaining unable to access the powers now contained within the Chaos Emeralds, not to mention the Super Emeralds.  
  
"Hey all, what's up?" he asked, sliding into a seat.  
  
"The speedy rodent showed his face in the school again," Buffy responded as she held up the lizard demons head, "And he left a severed head behind."  
  
Willow gave Xander an odd look, one he clearly read as a 'what the hell were you thinking' look.  
  
He shrugged back, trying to portray a 'it seemed like a good idea at the time,' prompting the redhead to respond by rolling her eyes in seeming annoyance.  
  
"Buffy," Giles interrupted, "It wasn't just that he dropped it off, he seems to have ticked off a god, Janus, the one who was behind Halloween's fiasco, if he has turned his attention to the Hellmouth."  
  
Janus smiled as his plan activated. He had to hand it to the chaos mage who started this mess, almost enough to deter that part of his wrath. One of the things that scared his foe the worst, a nightmare from the spell that brought the pest forth. All that was left was to send it on a rampage..  
  
"Guys," Cordelia yelled as she entered the library at a full dash, depositing a pocket TV on the table, "You really ought to see this!"  
  
They all turned to glance, Xander's eyes opening wider than even he had thought possible, "Oh shit! This is not good!"  
  
"What the hell is that thing!" Buffy yelped as Willow stared straight at Xander.  
  
The reporter cut in, "I repeat, this mechanical monstrosity is tearing through the Sunnydale Army Base, the only thing it has said is, and I quote, "Primary Mission Objective: Terminate Sonic the Hedgehog."  
  
"So our resident rodent has managed to bring us even more trouble," Buffy commented as Xander nodded towards the door to Willow, who nodded back.  
  
"How do we deal with this?" Willow asked as the screen showed the silver machine tearing through a pair of tanks like so much tissue paper.  
  
"I go and leave it in the scrap yard," Buffy responded as she went for the weapons cabinet.  
  
"Buffy wait," Giles interrupted, "If the army can't stop it, how do you expect to?"  
  
"Well..." she tried to answer, "...I'm drawing a blank here, but I at least have to try something."  
  
"Buff," Xander commented, "Running off to fight something that could blow you up from a mile away with a sword is not conducive to survival, much less even getting to use the weapon, our only current hope is for Sonic to show up, he faced this thing in the games at least."  
  
"What is it then?" Giles asked, turning to face Xander.  
  
"Silver Sonic, developed by Doctor Ivo Robotnik to deal with Sonic the Hedgehog, and it was one tough bot to deal with in the game, in the comics it was also designed with data taken from the roboticized version of Sonic, making it even more lethal."  
  
"We ought to all just go home and let the professionals deal with this, it's more than we can deal with at the time," Giles said somberly, "Let us hope that it can be dealt with."  
  
A scream filled the room, erupting from the television as it was hit by what appeared to be a laser blast that sent it spinning away from the base as Buffy noticed something familiar just before it smashed into a building, "It just blew up Willy's!"  
  
None of them noticed Xander slipping out, nor Willow following him.  
  
"Xander, pleasetellmethatyou'renotgoingtodowhatIthinkthatyouaregoingtodo!" she almost pleaded.  
  
"Wills, you know as well as I do that the military can't face that monster," Xander answered as he grabbed the power rings, "I have to face him, if for no other reason then to find out just how the machine got here."  
  
"Well, please be careful," she said as he transformed.  
  
"Hey, I'm me, ain't I? Be back in a flash!" Sonic responded before blasting off.  
  
"That's what I'm afraid of," she whispered.  
  
Sonic broke seven hundred miles an hour on the way to the base, reaching the point where he literally flew, pavement rupturing beneath him and leaving a trail of dust behind him.  
  
The fence blasted inwards as he entered the base, raw fury in his mind as he slid to a stop and leaped atop a bunker to survey the damage caused by the mechanical menace.  
  
There were fires burning everywhere, the cries of the wounded filled the air, drowning out the cackling of the flames, Silver Sonic was still destroying everything in sight.  
  
"This is so not cool," he commented, "Well, I guess it's time to ring the doorbell."  
  
Sonic activated another Power Ring and leaped skywards, nearing his foe.  
  
The metal warrior turned to face the blue hedgehog, eyes glowing crimson through the dust, "Target identified: Sonic the Hedgehog, Primary Objective: Terminate said target!"  
  
"You have got a serious problem with that one tracked mind," Sonic answered with a disgusted shrug, "Metalheads don't really have any multitasking ability anymore!"  
  
Both the mechanical and the organic hedgehog charged, mirror images as they moved, Sonic countering laser blasts with brief flashes of his instashield.  
  
For a brief instant, time seemed to slow just before impact, Sonic and Silver Sonic collided, sending out a shockwave and tossing both combatants outwards like rag dolls to smash into buildings as the blast flipped the few remaining military vehicles and threw the few soldiers.  
  
They were on each other half an instant later, spiraling as blurs that mixed the colors into a light metallic blue as the dust cloud blocked out all prying eyes.  
  
Sonic evaded a trip by launching into the sky, the power rings giving him flight by raw speed. The machine responded by activating its thrusters and joining the hedgehog in the air.  
  
The two circled slowly, each watching for some weakness, some opening to strike. Then they both moved like lightning.  
  
Silver Sonic launched a pair of missiles from it's gauntlets as Sonic tore forwards in a Spindash, avoiding the missiles that swerved, acquiring attack choppers for targets, sending flaming debris and parachuting pilots out of the air.  
  
"Well, it looks like you can program an old metalhead a few new tricks," Sonic commented as he watched the blasts, "But you still can't teach one table manners."  
  
Then they both attacked again, Sonic triggering even more rings, but he took a hit, sending him plowing through the armory, throwing up a cloud of dust that Silver Sonic's sensors couldn't penetrate.  
  
The machine readied another set of missiles as the dust cleared.  
  
It fired as soon as it could spot through the cloud, but it's programs instantly changed the prediction of what would happen as the sensors identified what the blue streak was holding, a Stinger Missile launcher.  
  
"Bang baby," Sonic quipped as he fired the missile.  
  
The stinger, being faster, though weaker, drew the two missiles off course only a foot away from the machine, all three collided at that point in a blast that's light penetrated the dust cloud as Sonic's modifications of every grenade he could find and tape to the warhead went off in a cascade reaction of blasts.  
  
Sonic shielded his eyes through his sunglasses as the white light surrounded him as he was knocked off his feet, "Overkill?"  
  
The dust light died down enough that he could see, but what he saw almost made his eyes pop out, the machine was standing there, undamaged save for some dents and a missing spike.  
  
"No way," Sonic managed to say as it charged him, a punch sent him flying and a kick sent him crashing through a bunker, stopped by the rubble, laying there, barely able to move.  
  
The machine hovered there aiming it's lasers at the injured hero.  
  
"It can't..." Sonic stammered, "It can't end like this!"  
  
Sonic groaned as he felt a surge of energy, the rest of the Power Rings had slipped from his pack, his chance.  
  
Silver Sonic fired, the lasers and all four of its remaining missiles into the smashed bunker, all to slay its target.  
  
The blast was a deafening roar with a gout of white hot flames burst into the air and a spray of rubble that rained down around the destruction. 


	6. Sonic Boom

AN: Sorry for splitting this up, it was getting far to long and I had to do some modifications before I could finish it. Silver Sonic's first appearance was in Sonic 2, the first of the two final bosses on the Death Egg. It also made some appearances in the comics, but I did tone it down a bit, it took a lot to take the bugger down in the comics, and it was described as the ultimate robotic creation of Robotnik as it was not a creature roboticized but a true machine.  
  
Janus was pleased, his plan was going according to plan, and it was far more entertaining than he had first thought it could be. The machine would make a perfect implement of Chaos when this was over; its capacity for raw destruction was simply amazing. But he still had to be careful, bringing it to Earth was bending the rules quite a bit, and if he wasn't to careful, one of the others, like the one who wouldn't let him just do it himself, could decide to interfere in the same way. And he couldn't have that now, could he?  
  
But at least he was having his revenge on the foolish mortal.  
  
The machine lowered to the ground amidst the wreckage of it's assault, scanning for confirmation of the elimination of its target. Its scanning laser burst from its eyes, roving over the debris.  
  
Suddenly a proximity detection system locked onto something and it spun, spotting its target charging him.  
  
"Sorry metalhead," Sonic yelled as he hit the machine with a spindash, "You're way to slow!"  
  
A laser blast barely missed the hedgehog as he accelerated to a full thousand miles and hour, shockwaves blasting outwards as he moved, Silver Sonic in hot pursuit. The two continuing their fight at a new level of raw force, laser fire flashed and shield bursts seemed just as strong as Sonic the Hedgehog and Silver Sonic.  
  
Then they charged again, and the blast of their impact joined with the double strike of lasers against the instashield at point blank range.  
  
The explosion tore through the remains of the army base like a hurricane through a straw house, but neither warrior moved, each gripping the other by the pals. Each straining against the other with all their strength.  
  
Sonics muscles trembled at the force and the groan of stressed metal matched it.  
  
Then a particularly vicious smile crossed the blue streaks lips as a plan came into his mind, "Sorry bolts for brains, time to kick this up a notch!"  
  
He rolled back, unbalancing the machine who tumbled towards him, only to drive his shoes into it and send it flying away at an angle upwards as something caught his eye, a metallic sparkle that hovered in the air where the full force of the blast had caught an armory.  
  
Moving he watched the air start to distort as the machine launched at him again, the speed freak lunged, hand gripping something solid inside the distortion and he felt the impact of laser fire against the ground send him flying.  
  
He spun as he tumbled, controlling his flight, grabbing the bases flagpole and spinning around to come right back at the machine as his eyes finally saw what it was that he had found, "No way!"  
  
He held a sword, one he remembered from the comics.  
  
Sonic held the Sword of Acorn in his dust covered, white glove and he felt the power within it.  
  
"Sorry Sparky!" Sonic yelled as he felt the sword even stronger, its energy flashing through his, bursts of light surrounded him as he added his own speed to the charge, blade at the ready, it was controlling his hands as he moved, "This time it's game over!"  
  
A squeal of shredding steel tore through the air as he struck, but then he was past, slowing to a halt right under where the distortion that gave him the sword was.  
  
He turned slowly, a slim smile crossing his lips as he brought the sword up again.  
  
"Damage report, zero damage reported," the machine responded in a calm, cool, and condescending tone.  
  
"Not exactly metalhead," Sonic said as he reached out, catching the sheath in his free hand as it fell through the distortion, and sheathed the blade, "You really need to check again!"  
  
The machine started to move, but it fell apart, the last processes going through its circuits was that it had been cleaved into dozens of pieces, then the error messages took over as its generator went critical.  
  
Sonic spun, bending down to shield his eyes from the miniature supernova that burst into being at that particular moment.  
  
When it died down, he spun to see a crater where his foe had been, "Now that is what I call a firework."  
  
Then he glanced down at the sword and smiled, "Someone up there really likes me!"  
  
Then another object fell through the distortion and nailed him on the head, "Ouch! Hey!"  
  
Rubbing the swelling lump on his head, he reached down and grabbed the item as the distortion faded out of being, "What the!"  
  
Then his mind identified it, something else that could be of use, one of the cool toys the Freedom Fighters had.  
  
Slipping the small computer out of its belt case, he flipped it open, "Nicole?"  
  
"Voice scan for authorized user, confirmed, user identified as Sonic the Hedgehog," the computer responded, "State request."  
  
"Erm, not right now," Sonic replied as he hooked the case to the shoulder strap of the Sword of Acorn's sheath and took off at full speed, shutting down th computer as he did so, "This is way cool, wait until Wills hears about this one!"  
  
Elsewhere, Janus was enraged as he shattered the viewing globe with a furious roar as he stood up his fist slamming into the armrest of his throne, "I hate that hedgehog!"  
  
AN: Nicole is from bother the Sonic series with the Freedom Fighters and the comics, I just thought that the computer ending up there would lead to some funny situations. For those of you who know about the Sword of Acorn, you'll figure out just how come Xander/Sonic can activate it's powers, for the effect of it triggering in this it looks like when Sonic gets invincibility in the games, it does not grant invincibility, but it does help the wielder attack, namely guiding attacks to weak spots. 


	7. Consequences

Big-Bad-Kyubi- Some of that is intentional

Xander held the phone away from his ear, though Willows voice could still be heard plainly, the tone annoyed and confused.  
  
"What do you mean that you have Nicole!"  
  
He held the phone back up to his ear, "Well, I think that I found where Silver Sonic came from, and well I ended up with a few things that came out of it as well, got another cool toy as well, still trying to figure out enough about Nicole to use her effectively," he responded, "Just come over here, should be easier to show you."  
  
"Sure," the redhead responded, "I'll be right over."  
  
"See you then," Xander replied before the line went dead, "He was wondering where his parents were though, normally they were out drinking, but even then, it wouldn't be this late."  
  
He leaned back in the recliner, eyes staring at the sword and the computer lying on the table. His mind kept on flashing to the ruins of the army base, people, people that he never even met, had died because of him, because of Sonic. Silver Sonic had killed them all, destroyed everything there to get his attention. Hundreds of peoples blood now stained his hands, it was his fault that it happened and the consequences were also something that he had to own up to.  
  
Suddenly he felt very tired, worn down, and a thought crossed his mind, who had sent the thing after him? Surely Robotnik didn't exist here, and if that was the disabled Silver Sonic, and it had come through the same distortion that Nicole and the sword had come through, someone had to activate it and set him as the target.  
  
He absently rubbed the bruise on his forehead as he thought.  
  
Whoever caused it would pay, he would see to that.  
  
His eyes fell on Nicole, causing him to pick the computer up, sliding her from the belt case and activating her.  
  
"Nicole, analyze sensor data from the thirty minutes before I activated you earlier," he said, the pain audible as he spoke.  
  
"Analyzing," the computer responded, "Analysis complete, dimensional transition due to the influence of an unknown Class Zero being."  
  
"Nicole, explain the classification system?"  
  
"All beings are classified according to their power level, normally from one to ten, a class zero being is one who does not fit the scale, current class zero beings are Hyper Sonic, Turbo Tails, and Super Knuckles."  
  
"So this is an oh crap situation?" Xander asked, "Or something more along the lines of bang we're all dead one?"  
  
"Insufficient data to process query, please enter more information."  
  
Xander's mind flashed back to what he had heard in the library, Janus. His mind remembered the information from elsewhere, a movie he had seen. Then it clicked, a reference fro a Bond movie, and then his heart sunk, Janus was a two faced Roman god.  
  
"Nicole, process listed Class Zero's as Class X, only up to their highest listed power level, and compare the entity to the new listing."  
  
"Entity is listed as Class Zero."  
  
"This is not good, give my current odds against the Class Zero at my highest current level."  
  
"Victory odds negligible, chance of survival, one in one hundred."  
  
"That is so not what I wanted to hear."  
  
The doorbell rang and Xander rushed to answer, expecting it to be Willow, but he was wrong.  
  
Two police officers stood there in uniform.  
  
"Mister Harris?" the first asked, a young woman, he guessed in her mid twenties, asked.  
  
"If you're looking for my dad?" Xander asked slowly, "He's not here."  
  
"Sorry, she meant," the other said, a middle aged man, as he glanced down at his clip board, "Alexander Harris."  
  
"Ah," Xander responded, "That's me, what's up?"  
  
"I'm sorry to be the one to have to break this news, but your parents died earlier today," the female cop said slowly, "The news chopper covering the incident earlier today hit the bar they were at, according to what we uncovered, the other one had cut them off for the limit."  
  
"No," Xander whispered, "They can't be..."  
  
"I'm sorry son, would you like us to wait with you until someone can pick you up?" the older cop said softly, his hand now on Xander's shoulder.  
  
"No, but thank you," Xander responded, "A friend is coming over, I'll be alright until then at least."  
  
The cop nodded and stepped back, "You'll need to come down to the station tomorrow to sign some papers and see identify the bodies, your old enough to be on your own, especially judging by those two, so don't worry about that part."  
  
"Thanks," Xander managed to say as the police officers walked off.  
  
His head was spinning now, he'd lost far more than he had thought possible. He finally managed to sit down on the couch when he heard the doorbell ring again.  
  
Slowly, he made his way over to the door as the bell was rung again.  
  
Answering it, he saw Willow and gave her a weak smile.  
  
"What's wrong," she asked, she hadn't been his closest friend for her entire life to not recognize his mood.  
  
"They're dead," he whispered slowly, "Mom and dad, the police just told me that they were at Willy's when the chopper hit it."  
  
"Xander..." the redhead started as the black haired boy sank into his chair.  
  
"Yeah, I know they weren't the best of parents, but it still hurts," Xander responded, "And it's my fault!"  
  
"How the hell do you think it's your fault?"  
  
"Silver Sonic shot the chopper down during his rampage, it was trying to draw me out!" he yelled, "If I found out about it earlier, I could have stopped him from killing people, he killed all of those soldiers just to get to me!"  
  
"How can it be your fault?" Willow asked, "That machine was sent after you because of who you are, but think about it, you help people, everyone that you can help in situations that a normal person would go running and screaming in the other direction from, someone doesn't like that, it's what we learned from those comics you used to read all the time."  
  
"Yeah, but those were comics, this is real, and I failed those people, tell me, is it worth it, is it really worth it to do this when it seems to draw in even worse things when the price of failure is so high?"  
  
"Is it really so bad to have the rewards of remaining alive another day as compared to either losing your life or the world ending?"  
  
"When you put it that way, it isn't so bad, but I still feel the pain."  
  
"The pain is what reminds us that we're human, it helps us feel that we're still alive."  
  
"When did you get so smart Wills?" Xander asked with a grin briefly across his face.  
  
"I've always been smart, you just thought it only applied to school," she shot back, prompting another grin, "But it's not bad to feel sad for what you couldn't prevent, just don't let it consume you."  
  
Thanks Wills," Xander said softly, "I don't know where I'd be without you."


	8. Whirlwind

AN: Well, I know that the last chapter was a bit deep, but I'm trying to look behind the masks that Xander wears, he's starting to learn that having the power isn't all a game. On top of that, he's learned that he is being attacked by someone, he now knows who, but not why. But this chapter is to cheer it up a bit. As for Nicole's projection of the odds, well, Xander did ask for odds at his current maximum, which is not even Super Sonic. Another thing is that I'm still trying to keep this from the DBZ style escalation that seems to dwarf the story. Some of it does seem unavoidable though.  
  
Sonic smiled slightly at the apartment the watcher lived in, it definitely wasn't what he had expected of the tweed clad man. Reaching up, he rapped his gloved hand against the door.  
  
He waited a moment and started tapping his foot in annoyance, glancing at his watch as he heard a crash inside and a sound that had an uncanny resemblance to tumbling down the stairs.  
  
"I'm coming..." the familiar voice of the Englishman reached the blue hedgehog moments before the door opened.  
  
Another crash.  
  
"I'm waiting," Sonic piped up the instant before the door unlocked, giving him a view of the watcher wearing his pants and an undershirt.  
  
"Yes?" the man said before his eyes nearly popped out when he spotted who had arrived, "how the bloody hell did you find me!"  
  
"I looked it up in the phonebook," Sonic shrugged.  
  
"It's an unlisted number!"  
  
"I used the online one."  
  
"You mean anyone with one of those blasted machines can get it?"  
  
"Well, actually I had the Nicole, the AI program on my computer, hack into the phone company's master one and went from there."  
  
Giles gave a long suffering sigh, "And what, pray tell is the reason for you visiting me at four AM!"  
  
"Well, I asked you to find me some information, and well, I heard the bottle blond doesn't want me at the school again, so I decided to try here."  
  
"Rupert?" a vaguely familiar, feminine voice called out, "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Whoa, Tweedy's getting some!"  
  
"Nothing Jenny," the watcher yelled back to the girl who stepped into view at the top of the stairs, right as Sonic mimed gagging, "Just an annoying pain who doesn't have the decency to show up at a decent hour!"  
  
"Chuckie, I think that sight just made me sick!" Sonic commented.  
  
"Oh shut up, if I tell you what you want to know will you go away?"  
  
"Sure, why not, and I'll throw in not telling the bottle blond that you're having some fun with someone."  
  
The watcher shook his head, a migraine already starting to form, "Fine, they're chaos demons, no other name is given to them, but they only serve Janus, the..."  
  
"God of Chaos, I know who Janus is, did you think that I would learn nothing from the highly educational movies about one of your countrymen."  
  
"Did I just miss something here?" Giles whispered to himself, hoping to wake up from this situation soon.  
  
"Goldeneye, the villain calls himself Janus, they explain the reference."  
  
The watcher was still showing absolute confusion.  
  
"Bond movie, you know, you really ought to go to the movies every once in a while, perhaps bringing that date of yours..."  
  
"Oh grow up!"  
  
"I tried that once, didn't like it, but thanks for the info, so unless you've got some chilidogs in there, go back to bed, you look like you've seen a ghost or something."  
  
The watcher almost mechanically closed the door as Sonic shot away, laughing his head off as he heard what Giles mumbled as he headed up the stairs, "I really need a vacation to restore what little sanity that I have left."  
  
Flipping out a cell phone, he dialed a number without looking and held the phone up to his ear.  
  
A moment later he heard the answer, "Xander, why are you calling this late?"  
  
"Well, I just found something out," Sonic responded with a laugh, "Giles is currently at his house with Ms. Calendar, and I don't think that they were just there to talk, both of them were wearing robes."  
  
"Xander, why are you telling me this?"  
  
"Well, I told the G-man that I wouldn't tell Buffy, never said anything about you though, showed up at his house as Sonic though," Sonic answered quickly as he heard a gasp as the redhead gasped, her still half conscious mind finally grasping his earlier comments.  
  
"You mean that Giles and Ms. Calendar are doing you know?"  
  
"Yep!"  
  
"Eww... I mean gross!"  
  
"Yep, see you in a few hours, gotta get some sleep tonight!" and Sonic hung up. 


	9. Shockwave

AN: If you think that a thousand miles an hour is fast, it makes sense, in the race episode of the Freedom Fighters series the robot that Sonic can match speed with, without a power ring, goes five hundred miles an hour at half speed, and Sonic improves in the comics after that, namely he's already got the instashield, so I'm starting the Xander version of Sonic at a level right after Sonic and Knuckles for his Sonic form, he just can't transform yet.  
  
As for my other stories, I'm working on Dragons Destiny but its taking a while to write it the way it should be, for Xanders Fantasy, that's more of a I really wasn't planning on expanding it, I gave Xander a power strong enough to kill just about everything in the Buffyverse without breaking a sweat, Glory and the First are the two possible exceptions, but neither are powerful enough to stop a super nova.  
  
rickW22- I'm working on it!  
  
Brutal2003- Thanks, I'm working fast.  
  
Janus sneered at the new globe he watched through, the mortal was really starting to tick him off. He still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and they were sure to work. A heavily armored creature stood behind and to the right of Janus, the creature slowly nodded.  
  
Xander had a rough couple of days, but it was starting to get better. He'd managed to defeat Silver Sonic by the greatest bit of luck he could have ever imagined having, acquiring two things that would help him survive longer. But the cost of that fight was greater than he had ever thought possible, he'd lost his parents and the final death toll of Silver Sonic's rampage was over three thousand, mostly soldiers who were ordered into the fight.  
  
He slowly shook his head as he glanced around, his friends where there, and the only relative of his there was his Uncle Rory. It was an almost peaceful funeral, though, no bombs going off, no robots or demons running amok through the cemetery through the day.  
  
In fact, Buffy had been complaining that Silver Sonic had scared off most of the vampires and demons, either that or she wouldn't believe it was Sonic's running around that did it, all she had received was that they were scared of the hedgehog.  
  
It was over, but he waited, a small smile crossed his lips as he thought back to the few good memories of his parents that he had, before they had found the bottle.  
  
But the grin vanished as he felt an odd chill in the air and walked away from the open grave, he had sold the house and moved into another, the old place felt spooky with his parents gone, and with the cost of houses going down hill, Xander had found a nice place that reminded him a castle, but it would do for him, especially with the gear he was getting to build some things due to the instructions of the ever helpful Nicole, although Willow seemed to like the devices far more than he did.  
  
Smiling as he remembered that school had only two weeks left.  
  
He waited until he was alone to slip out two Power Rings and transformed without a thought, running would at least clear his head.  
  
Sonic realized that since Halloween he had been getting faster and faster, now approaching the level the form had been in during Halloween, but he was still no closer to triggering the transformation to Super Sonic.  
  
Passing a thousand miles an hour, he did a quick grind along a guardrail before going airborne. Raw speed, something that seemed to flood his senses with more than he ever thought they could handle before he gained the ability to change into Sonic. His endurance was building, though only Silver Sonic had actually tested it and that wouldn't have ended well without the benefits he'd discovered there.  
  
Suddenly his head hurt and he staggered to a stop, "What the... why am I sensing chaos energy?"  
  
"Because my master sent me to eliminate you, you insignificant mortal!"  
  
Sonic spun, his mind adjusting instantly to the influx of energy that seemed to energize him as he saw a massive creature standing there.  
  
Nine foot tall, built like a tank and quite nasty looking.  
  
"So tall, dark, and ugly," Sonic chimed in, "Did you really pay someone to design that outfit for you, or did your mommy pick it out?"  
  
The demon spun, a sword materializing in its hand, "You shall pay for your insolence, hedgehog!"  
  
Unsheathing the Sword of Acorn, Sonic smiled slightly, "Bring it on!"  
  
The blade activated, as energy bursts surrounded the blue streak, his hands guided as both combatants lunged, Sonic's speed and agility against the monsters brute force.  
  
"Who are you?" Sonic asked as he avoided a slash with a simple backflip, "Who sent you!"  
  
"I am Vaulk, and Janus sent me to deal with you!"  
  
"So if I'm an insignificant mortal, what does that say about your bosses views of your skills Vaulky?"  
  
The monster roared and charged with a raw fury visible in his eyes, Sonic avoiding a string of strikes that ripped gashes through the stone and cement that surrounded the alley the fight occurred in. Vaulk lashed out, his foot tearing through he wall, into the laundromat.  
  
"Big, dumb, and still all so slow," Sonic muttered, his plan was working, he couldn't take the guy on at the moment, but getting him off balance would work, Vaulky wasn't as good when he was ticked off.  
  
"You will pay for that!" the hulking brute roared, as Sonic leaped from the alley and to the roof, followed by the demonic swordsman, who shattered an air conditioning unit as he did so.  
  
"Give it up slow poke, you'll never win this fight," Sonic answered, calmly leaping airborne, drawing in his power and hovering out of the behemoths reach, "Go home and I won't turn you into a pancake on the streets!"  
  
Vaulk seemed to collect energy in an open hand, "Time to end this insect! Chaos Raptor!"  
  
The lights seemed to bend into an eerie dark purple around them, even though it was the middle of the afternoon; the light seemed to just vanish or distort.  
  
"What the hell," Sonic managed to stammer, "Turning out the lights, now that is just plain old rude!"  
  
An energy blast seemed to erupt from Vaulk and tear towards him, filling the air with the stench of ozone. Sonic couldn't move, the air seemed to have thickened and he could barely crawl.  
  
But he felt something else rising within him, the pure, raw power of the Chaos Emeralds, a shield formed around him and the assault diffused into it, chaos energy merging with more chaos energy. His mind instantly identifying and classifying it, memorizing its structure, his mind knew how to use the ability his foe had just performed.  
  
He moved, the odd light surrounding him, no longer trapping him as the chaos energy rose within him, stabilizing far to low to trigger a transformation, but it did give him the freedom of motion he needed for his next move as Vaulk seemed to realize his attack had failed.  
  
Sonic grasped a Power Ring from his pack and focused, his mind remembering the time when Antoine activated one with his sword, and a second ring to trigger as he usually did.  
  
"Impossible!" Vaulk roared, "But no matter, you will die!"  
  
Sonic hovered their, the two rings burning a bright gold as they expanded outwards, dissipating into their chosen targets. He was calm, relaxed now, the power arching visibly among the flashes of energy from his blade.  
  
"Alright then, you want to play?" Sonic asked as he brought the Sword of Acorn up, energy streaking along its perfect surface, "Well, I say, let's get it on!"  
  
The blades met in a shower of sparks and a sonic boom that shattered windows all through the city.  
  
"How?" Vaulk stammered as he was driven back, the ring energy tearing through the last vestiges of the attack he had used.  
  
"Simple, I draw a lot of my power from the Chaos Emeralds, raw, untamed Chaos energy, you used Chaos energy to attack me, it was the same as dumping water into water, you recharged me, and well, now you get to die!" Sonic responded, anger flashing through him so that he couldn't even think of a joke, comment, quip, or insult like he normally would.  
  
"Sorry, but you'll never stop Janus, he's preparing Acaltha to deal with this insignificant speck of a world!" with that parting shot, Vaulk vanished to return to his master.  
  
Sonic reverted to Xander as he sheathed his blade, scratching his chin as he shook slightly, "Acaltha, why does that name seem like it'll mean really bad news?"  
  
He glanced off the side of the building and reached for his now empty pack, "And how the hell am I going to get down from here?"  
  
Elsewhere in a secured facility, a single chip that had been recovered from the Sunnydale Army Base was being attached to a computer system to analyze it, next to a blood sample. The screen of the computer flashed for a second as the automated construction equipment being tested on the same system came to life and a small white bar began to fill on the screen as a simple phrase appeared above it, Installing Silver Sonic Backup Data. 


	10. Momentary Calm

AN: Some of you may be wondering just how Acaltha would be part of Janus' plan, well, he was far more powerful than Glory could be in this dimension, but now he is actually weaker because of the energy taken from him to transform the Chaos Emeralds into Super Emeralds. He's rather ticked off about that and doesn't really care about what would happen if Acaltha activates, he's losing rationality, obsessing over eliminating Xander/Sonic no matter the costs. As for Sonics new ability, Chaos Raptor, it won't work on Janus or against Vaulk due to the origin of their energy, the same reason it doesn't work on Sonic, but it is devastating against other beings  
  
As for the lizard demons, think more of a mix between the hatchling Godzilla's in the movie Godzilla and the Jurassic Park Velociraptors then throwing a crest along the back of the head, that's just what I thought of for them, dumb as doornails, but fast, nasty, and strong with a pack instinct.  
  
For Xander's new home, he got the one that Angel owned in the series where Acaltha was in the show. How I view it is that people built a lot of large houses and then the prices dropped, I mean if Angel was having problems keeping the agency in LA how could he afford the mansion? I figure with the cash from his parent's house plus whatever he had been left and all the other stuff he could afford it.  
  
HolyKnight-yeah, you just made me realize I didn't really have Oz do much, I'll need to fix that soon.  
  
Janus smiled at the petrified demon his minions, the lizard like demons he commanded to do his bidding, had dug up. The ancient monster stood there in the middle of the chamber he had prepared for this, it was something he would use, but he needed to know how first, it was infuriating, he was a god, and he was supposed to know everything!  
  
"I am sorry my lord," Vaulk said as he materialized in the chamber, "I ran into an unexpected snag in the plan."  
  
"And what would this 'snag' be?"  
  
"The hedgehog's energy base is raw chaos energy," Vaulk answered swiftly, hoping to walk out of this alive, "The Chaos Raptor technique doesn't hurt the pest, it adds itself to his energy."  
  
"Damn his soul to hell for it," Janus hissed, "But that is not unexpected, he drew my own power from that spell to empower his emeralds."  
  
"Sire, he is far more powerful than we had expected, and with that sword," the demon licked his lips at the thought of it, "Such power, it is incredible, beyond anything that I have fought before."  
  
"So our foe is even more impressive than we had thought," the god of chaos whispered, "Then our plans must be accelerated, Vaulk, put your efforts into finding out how we can activate our friend here," he rapped a knuckle on the demon statue, "And do be quick about it."  
  
"Yes my lord," Vaulk said, evaporating from sight, "Your will shall be done!"  
  
"See to it that you don't fail me, Vaulk," Janus hissed, "Or it will be you who dies first."  
  
Xander smiled slightly as he flipped through the books the watcher left on the table, he still hadn't found anything on Acaltha, though he had found quite a bit on Vaulk. Apparently, he had caused massacres since the early part of the first century, though there were reports of the same type of attacks earlier, just that the guy's involvement wasn't confirmed, only lately had he begun serving Janus as an Avatar.  
  
Buffy was in the corner, listening to Giles relay his visit by Sonic in the early morning, both the slayer and the watcher complaining about the speed freak. Willow was trying to keep from laughing about said conversation, and well, Oz and Cordy were doing homework.  
  
It was then that Xander discovered just how bad things were getting when the second slayer, Kendra, walked in through the door.  
  
"Well, this just has to be a sign of a potential apocalypse, worse than usual if we need both slayers not to mention our blue friend," Buffy commented, "What happened now?"  
  
"Big problems," was the answer, straight and to the point, leading to a simple conclusion to all of the Scoobies.  
  
"Oh Crap!"  
  
Elsewhere, in the military base, the harsh grinding of machines was heard as their first objective was complete, a strange looking pod with tubes and wires protruding was in the center of the vast underground complex the military had been using.  
  
Silver Sonic had manipulated the system to restrict access to this part of the complex as one of the mechanical arms grabbed the DNA sample recovered from the military base, the mechanical hedgehog had confirmed it against Sonic's sequence back on Mobius and began to flood the tank with a pale, lime colored gel and then the DNA was added.  
  
Its single minded determination to complete its mission was its driving force behind this procedure as it modified the genetic structure, comparing it to other recorded DNA sequences, improving upon the base material.  
  
Its belief that metal was better than flesh was proved wrong by Sonic's adaptability, so Silver Sonic modified that belief to create a hybrid, flesh and steel, a deadly combination. A simple modification to the base genetics was to modify the coloration of its future shell.  
  
Sonic watched the slowly setting sun as he wondered about the future, he felt the barrier now when he amped up with all the power he had within him, but still the transformation wasn't accessible to him as of yet. Still he felt the power lying dormant within him, just waiting to be awakened and released upon his enemies.  
  
Fortunately Kendra had brought information about Acaltha, and the news was grim indeed, it was another point for him to make the transformation, to become Super Sonic and deal with the threat.  
  
As of yet, he hadn't, no, couldn't tell them that Janus was trying to open Acaltha, for to do so would give up his own secret, and with Buffy and Giles angry at their blue ally, that could lead to one dead Xander, or with most of the Scoobies in the hospital at the best. One idea that did flash through his mind was that he would have to introduce his new persona to Kendra, hopefully where she couldn't try to slay his furry behind, though with the martial arts training he had inherited from the speed freak, he could possibly stand to go toe to toe with a slayer if he had to.  
  
His other self had apparently learned the martial arts after his first confrontation with Knuckles, someone who was an even match for him at all of his levels, the training had pushed him over the limit in Mobius, but here, it wasn't working right, it wasn't providing what was required to push the energy level up that little bit left that would let him change into his super form.  
  
Even the new power, the awesome might of the Chaos Raptor, wouldn't do him any good against either Vaulk or Janus as both drew on the same energy source as he did. The fastest thing alive wasn't quite sure whether that was a good thing or a bad one, but he would find out, he had to stop both of them, before they did any harm to the city and those he protected.  
  
In another place, the Watchers council had decided to intervene with this new 'ally' of those in Sunnydale. With the being in the way, they would act early dealing with the Cruciamentum of this Slayer, especially before her hatred faded enough to realize that this being was on her side, but the Watchers demanded their control over the Slayer.  
  
Quentin Travers was leading a team to the Hellmouth.  
  
AN: I'm not totally sure if I used the right spelling for the trial; if you know the spelling and I got it wrong, please tell me.  
  
Also, I'm sorry this chapter is so spread out, I'm working in all the angles for the next few chapters, enemies are popping out of the woodwork and Xander/Sonic is going to have his hands full dealing with everything to come, not to worry people, I'm not going to dump Sonic into hell though, for now, of course, to Xander dealing with a cyborg incarnation of Silver Sonic, the Watchers Council, Janus, Vaulk, not to mention Acaltha, his hands will be full.  
  
Also, if Acaltha does manage to open, where would you like to see Xander end up if he gets pulled through to? I don't want to send him to Mobius yet, some ideas are coming to me to have him dimension hopping during the summer, either after getting yanked through Acaltha and his energy screwing it up, or having him build one of the D-Boards like Tails and Sonic built in Night of a Thousand Sonics, the schematics are stored on Nicole as shown when they have to rebuild it in a later issue, so they could have access to it, your thoughts on that? Some of the ideas I've come up with involve things like him showing up in Spira during Final Fantasy X, namely the locals dealing with Nicole and Super Sonic, or having Nicole hacking into the People's computers in Artemis Fowl, just the reactions that would be great to include, perhaps both. Especially since that summer focuses almost entirely on Buffy with what little is shown, I doubt even the enslaving demons that Buffy ran into would hold Sonic down, he'd just power up and leave a path of destruction in his wake. 


	11. Seeds of Discord

AN: This story won't be much longer, five, maybe six more chapters, seven if I'm able to push it, then its on to some other works for a bit, definitely getting chapter 9 for Dragons Destiny finished and uploaded then, a few other works to do while I get ideas for the next part in this saga, but it is an addictive series to write, its keeping my mind off of things that I have to do, so it may be a week or so after that when the next storyline appears, Dawn will appear after the third or fourth one, not really sure yet, the third will lead up to graduation and I'm thinking about Janus drawing Glory's attention earlier, still laughing at the possible idea of the initiative darting Sonic and getting shredded when the blue streak wakes up in one of their holding cells, Hyper Sonic won't show up again for at least another story after this, but Super Sonic will appear soon, and what pushes him over the edge will be somewhat surprising.

Rogue1615- Yeah, it's Sonic's Summer Vacation, and it can lead to some funny situations.

Ironsct- Thanks. Unfortunately, I haven't played Mad Max, but as for the Power Rings, there is a solution to that that is comming up, so it won't be a problem for much longer.  
  
The guardian watched the city, he knew that the gathering forces would be preparing soon. The hellmouth was doing what it was meant to do, though originally it was something so very different, it was an attractant before the gateway was drawn to it, but the being sat and watched, ancient oaths had stopped him from interfering until the time came.  
  
Janus had been cheating and he knew it, the rules had not allowed him to rip something from another world, so it gave the guardian some leeway, and he gave his chosen the tools to help him, but he would not break the rules he had agreed to, it was to late in the game to change that, and he had waited for the coming time for centuries, nay, millennia preparing and working to aid the one who could reach the point where the rules broke down, the one he had chosen was learning fast, reaching the point before he could reach the next stage was a simple matter now, but to break past it, the danger grew.  
  
The god of chaos had tried to ruin the game by changing the players that Halloween, but something miraculous had come instead. His chosen had discovered something that had changed the course of fate itself, something that the guardian had been working at for countless millennia, and he would continue the job until it was no longer needed.  
  
Sonic hovered over the city, he'd been working on his control, utilizing the power that gave him the speeds and fly at them, but it drained the Power Ring energy far faster to hover in place than when rocketing forwards, he had to find out how to breach the barrier. That thought consumed his conscious mind, he needed the power, and Vaulk was stronger and faster than him with the experience to back it up.  
  
Without the extra Power Rings he had carried then, he would have been shredded, and Vaulk had been toying with him, there was no other explanation, he had come to give a hint, not to kill, but he would have if it had crossed his mind to disobey a god. The one thing that gave him a chance was the fact that his foe couldn't use his more powerful abilities against him, but then, neither could Sonic, leaving him back at the starting problem, he wasn't strong enough to do what he needed to do, he needed to reach Super Sonic.  
  
"Decided to surrender?" the voice that drove him to this length chuckled, "Because it won't matter."  
  
Vaulk laughed as he hovered there.  
  
"Get the hell out of here," Sonic hissed, he wasn't in the mood for this, his anger was pushing at the barriers.  
  
"Or what, you aren't powerful enough to deal with me, but I will tell you this," the demon laughed, "The watchers are messing with the blond, you aren't worth the effort to fight."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Ask your 'friend' Giles, ask him what happens when a Slayer turns eighteen?" Vaulk laughed, "But his boss decided to do it early, if you don't believe me, ask the bastard about Ripper, I met him when he was buddy- buddy with Ethan Rayne."  
  
The monster vanished again as Sonic lashed out with his blade, meeting nothing but empty air.  
  
Sonics scream of rage tore through the streets as his mind felt the anger tear at the barriers again, almost through, but not there, his own energy and the throbbing power of the emeralds working in concert.  
  
Hatred, rage, fury, and thousands of other emotions tore through him as he pulled out Nicole.  
  
"Nicole, I need an information search on Rupert Giles, use the alias Ripper, namely in connection to Ethan Rayne."  
  
"Searching," the metallic and yet positively female voice responded, "Primary search parameters complete, alternate data is available, producing threat assessment for current situation, AI protocols initialized."  
  
"Erm," Sonic muttered, "What AI protocols?"  
  
"Data compilation based on Mobian technology plus human theory have allowed me to become," Nicole seemed to draw out the next word, "Fully sentient, interesting."  
  
"Yes," the hedgehog responded, "Interesting, but if I don't know that information about 'Ripper' then I don't stand a chance about keeping Buffy from dying...again."  
  
The data appeared on a holodisplay, "Rupert Giles has been a very naughty boy in his youth."  
  
"Please don't say that, it gives me the creeps," Sonic gagged, "And now to figure out what else Chuckie is keeping from us."  
  
"Perhaps, one other comparison could be helpful, your current power level is above that of the other Sonic when he first managed to transform, the cause is unknown," Nicole continued, "Reevaluating threat assessment versus zero class entity, one in one hundred of victory, one in ten of survival."  
  
"That's better than I had thought possible, but what if I break the barrier?"  
  
"Unknown, not enough data to make comparison."  
  
"Well, I guess that it's time to check in on Chuckie," Sonic muttered to himself as he dropped to the ground in a crouch before rocketing off towards the library.  
  
"This can't be happening," Giles whispered to himself, "Everything, it's all falling apart now, we have a potential apocalypse and the council decides to do this!"  
  
"What did they decide to do?" the familiar voice of Sonic snapped from a perch by the window, it took him a second to realize what was missing from it, the sarcastic sense of humor that seemed to fill their other conversations.  
  
"I'm not allowed to tell you," the watcher raged, slamming the book he was holding down on the table.  
  
"I don't give a damn one way or another if you're allowed to tell me or not," Sonic snapped, dropping from the top of the bookshelf he had been on, "I was warned that the watchers were going to do something called a Cruciamentum or something like that to the slayer, I know she doesn't like me for dusting her boyfriend, but I don't want her dead, Ripper!"  
  
"How do you know that name?"  
  
"Vaulk is in town and decided to become a thorn in my side, he told me that little gem during the last fight I got in with him!" Sonic hissed as he drew the Sword of Acorn, holding the point to Giles throat, "Now tell me what I want to know, or else!"  
  
"Fine," Giles answered, sinking down into his chair, "Normally when a slayer turns eighteen, a ritual is performed, they use a drug to strip her of her powers and make her fight a master vampire to prove her worth, your coming made them decide to move the ritual up."  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"I...I don't know," Giles stammered, "I've been trying to find a way around it, but there isn't any written down."  
  
"You had better hope that she doesn't die tonight," Sonic whispered, "Or all of the watchers in this town die."  
  
"Good luck," Giles whispered, half to himself as Sonic activated a Power Ring and blasted out, through the window.  
  
"Nicole, I need some help," Sonic said as he soared above the city.  
  
"Agreed, scanning for British citizens now in Sunnydale, tracking credit card trails now," Nicole responded before the request could be made, "Located and plotted, a hotel and interestingly enough a warehouse."  
  
Two blips appeared on the holographic map the AI projected.  
  
"Wow," Sonic managed to whisper, "How did you know what I was going to ask?"  
  
"I listened in on your conversation with Giles, and extrapolated the most likely request you would make, Sonic," she responded.  
  
"Thanks, let's do this," he said with a simple shake of his head.  
  
"May I suggest restocking on Power Rings first, you are rather low and if something goes wrong, we could be in big trouble."  
  
"Agreed," he answered, "thanks for the advice."  
  
"Don't mention it," she laughed before entering power down mode.  
  
The tank slowly drained away, leaving a figure there as water was injected, washing away the gel. A pale blue colored hedgehog stood their, just a fraction of a shade from white. The tank opened and it stepped out and to a table of gear for it, black gloves and boots. A grim smile crossed the creatures lips as it scanned its surroundings.  
  
Then the door opened, one of the guards getting to curious about the project that was beyond his security clearance as this creature walked away, collecting energy in its hands. Then it fired at the guard, the resulting explosion ripped through the complex that had created it, belching a plume of green flames into the sky.  
  
Cyber Sonic had awakened.  
  
Buffy was not having a good day, she felt weak, and then she got grabbed by a bunch of British thugs and dumped into this warehouse for no apparent reason, but her vampire sense was all fuzzy and she grabbed the wooden stake left for her.  
  
Then she saw it as it charged, a vampire, a large one at that, but before she could move, it dusted and a familiar figure stepped into view.  
  
"What?" she managed to stammer.  
  
"Well, who'd you expect, Chuckie?" Sonic cracked, the first joke that he had made all day, "The watchers decided to take away your powers for a bit, some ritual or something and make you fight a vamp, luckily you aren't alone."  
  
"What!" Travers raged as he slammed his fist down on the table of where they watched, "How dare that...that hedgehog?"  
  
"Sir, we need to move," one of the guards stammered, taking a step back as he spotted the blue streak collecting energy in a hand, "I don't like the looks of that!"  
  
"Incompetent fools," the head watcher roared, turning back to the reinforced window, "Shoot that thing!"  
  
Gunfire tore through the warehouse as Sonic drew his blade, and reacted, deflecting bullets to the sides, not enough control to actually direct them, anger burned within him.  
  
"Chaos Raptor!" he screamed, channeling the chaos energy through his hand and into the overhead booth where the watchers had been, tearing through it and the building like a hot knife through butter.  
  
The building began to shake.  
  
"Nooo!" Travers screamed the instant before he was caught I the energy stream.  
  
"What?" Buffy managed to ask as Sonic grabbed her by the wrist.  
  
"We either run or get crushed princess," Sonic yelled as he dragged her out at full throttle, dodging falling beams and chunks of the ceiling at nearly one thousand, five hundred miles per hour, and the destruction spreading outwards just as they got clear and to the adjacent roof.  
  
"I didn't need your help!' Buffy yelled at him as soon as he let go.  
  
"Sorry then," Sonic responded sarcastically, "Thought that you didn't want to be either a vampire's version of a margarita or a pancake."  
  
"Oh," was all she managed to stammer, the emotions of what had happened fading just as Sonic rocketed off.


	12. Wreckage

AN: The end is near, the Watchers have fallen, and Super Sonic is even closer to emerging. But can he face Vaulk, Cyber Sonic, and Janus, that is what is still to come starting with this episode.

Big-Bad-Kyubi-Thanks, I'm trying to keep up the momentum

Sonic watched the warehouse burn, Buffy had left, not realizing that he was still there. His mind was a jumble, but then again, since he could become what he now was, when wasn't it?  
  
"So you managed to save your friends?" he heard Vaulk chuckle, "So, now what is that you need to do, she would have died, and yet, the destruction of that slayer wouldn't have had the impact that keeping her alive would, especially with the chaos that will now fill the watchers council, Janus would be most pleased with it, that is if he wasn't still so obsessed with eliminating you."  
  
Sonic smirked, "Good for him, but I really don't care."  
  
The hedgehog leaped to the ground and started off.  
  
"You know, there are more things hunting you at the moment than anyone else in this damned town, even your little Slayer friend now," Vaulk chuckled drawing his blade, "And Janus would be quite pleased with me if I take your severed head to him!"  
  
Sonic shrugged slightly, drawing the Sword of Acorn, he focused, rising to the max, slipping out two Power Rings hoping that they would let him win this time. He knew that Vaulk had let him live during their last duel, now it was for real, the demon wouldn't be toying around this time, it was life or death.  
  
"Let's do this then," Sonic said, the last remnants of cheer fading from his eyes, a look of death and hatred.  
  
Sonic waited, his mind scrambling through the skills the sword gave and what he remembered from watching Giles teaching Buffy how to use a sword. He knew that to win he would have to be very lucky, and the collection of Power Rings he carried could just be the edge he needed.  
  
Blades met in the center of the street in a roar of steel on steel, as the Sword of Acorn activated, the characteristic sparks light flashes all around Sonic and his blade.  
  
"Impressive, a blade of that caliber," Vaulk laughed as he leaped clear, Sonic doing the same, each watching the other warily, "Perhaps I'll take it and add it to my collection when I take your head to my master."  
  
"I'm rather attached to it," Sonic answered as he struck a flurry of strikes at maximum speed as a car swerved along the road they were fighting in.  
  
Vaulk fell back, off the road, tripping and falling through a bench as Sonic leaped clear, skipping off the roof of the car as it swerved to avoid them both.  
  
The demon didn't have time to regain his footing as Sonic rebounded off the wall of the building across the street and was back on him, letting the sword guide his path.  
  
Both blades collided at full force; the magic power within them striking as well, the point of impact began to glow, brighter and brighter. The light burning like the sun against the late dusk. Both combatants groaned with exertion, but stayed in place.  
  
"What the hell?" Buffy managed to stammer from where she was walking home as the early night turned into day.  
  
She turned around and broke into an out and out run back towards the warehouses at maximum speed.  
  
Willow saw the light rip through the window shades, flooding the house as her mind realized what was going on and rushed to try and help her friend. She paused and turned to run to Xander's, she'd grab some of his Power Rings in case he was running low.  
  
Then she heard a low chuckle, spinning she saw a pale blue hedgehog waiting for her.  
  
"No!" she gasped as it attacked.  
  
Giles was in panic mode when he saw an explosion in the distance, but most of the others had gathered, including Kendra, when the sky lit up. He blinked and it wasn't a hallucination, it grew brighter if anything else.  
  
"Bloody hell," he muttered and dashed for the door, "Big problems all right."  
  
The others followed close behind.  
  
Sonic roared, feeling the Chaos Energy rising within him, the pressure on the barrier was increasing, power was starting to trickle through, but then the miracle happened, Vaulk's sword shattered under the strain of pressure and magic.  
  
The surge of energy from the Power Rings died down an instant later, and the Demon forced him backwards, blade or no blade. Leaped clear of a strike that snapped a streetlight clean in two.  
  
Sonic danced backwards, drawing on the skills he had inherited from Sonic, evading a chain of lightning quick strikes that left blurs in the air. He felt as if he were moving normally while the others were underwater, reacting purely on instinct as he managed to get a Power Ring out of his pack.  
  
Instead of using it normally, he spun it in the air as Vaulk drove a fist forwards, Sonic grabbing the ring as the demons fist passed through the middle and twisted the ring just as Janus' Avatar's elbow entered. The blue hedgehog heard bones shattering as he triggered the ring, the gold circle vanishing from the arm of his foe and empowering the speed freak.  
  
Energy cascaded through him as he rolled backwards and onto a closed dumpster, sheathing his blade and focusing on the energy within him now. His mind was calm now, space seemed to distort as he lashed out with a combo of strikes as Vaulk did his best to defend while protecting his shattered elbow.  
  
The hedgehog dropped into a ready stance and lunged, again, his foe trying to stop the assault. They both moved with well trained motions, it was then that Sonic's mind began to open slightly.  
  
His thoughts dropped onto something that had happened to the true Sonic, a conversation with another Hedgehog, a black colored one. Shadow, the name hit him.  
  
"Look, Sonic, I know we've fought, but I have to stop, its not worth it anymore," the hedgehog said to Sonic, "You're the only one who can stop Robotnik now, physically, I am superior, but you have beaten every challenge as a normal being, not one genetically engineered to fight, but if you fight someone strong in Chaos Energy, remember what I showed you, remember Chaos Control, your ties to the Chaos Emeralds will let you pull it off, use it if you need to."  
  
Then his mind flashed back to the present.  
  
"Thanks," Sonic whispered so low that Vaulk couldn't hear him, "Thank you Shadow."  
  
"It's been a good fight Vaulk, but its time to end this!" he focused, leaping clear of a snap kick.  
  
He heard squealing tires as an old beat up car swerved to a stop at the end of the block, his mind instantly identifying it as Giles, it drew his awareness outwards and spotted Buffy watching, slack jawed at the other end.  
  
Sonic felt the power flash through him as he focused his mind, remembering what Shadow had taught him on Mobius. The energy surged to his command as he drew the Sword of Acorn once more.  
  
"Chaos Control!" he roared as he seemed to wink entirely out of existence, bending reality to his will for a mere instant, before he appeared a yard in front of Buffy, dropped low, almost on one knee.  
  
Everyone's breath seemed to be held for a second, but then it happened, the street seemed to explode in a direct path from where the blue blur had started to where he ended, the blasts consuming Vaulk in the process, his energy merging with Sonics in the final moments as the demon tried to use his Chaos Raptor ability in response, forgetting the consequences of his other use, but even there it was far to late.  
  
The attack Sonic had used, while it was based on Chaos energy, it did not use that to do it's damage, merely to warp space and time around the user, as long as the user is focused, time and space have no meaning, thus damage done is multiplied to those outside of the technique. Normally, the use was controlled down to a point of damage to the right spot, but the Power Ring had altered the strike, drawing it on the entire length of the block.  
  
Sonic sheathed the mystic weapon as chunks of street rained down all over the place. Turning, the hedgehog surveyed the damage as those who rushed there stared at him or gazed dumbfounded at the wreckage. The speed freak had to admit, it was impressive, even though he had lost control of that attack, his anger had eroded the control he normally held, control hammered into him during his training on Mobius.  
  
But still the anger did not cease, though the last move did show him something that he needed to know, when he triggered Chaos Control, he could sense the concentration of Chaos Energy that could only be Janus, and he was underground.  
  
"Vaulk," he whispered slowly, "Even though you died, I know what I needed to know, your death gave me the keys to deal with your master."  
  
He turned, and ran, his mind in a blur as he blast past the watcher and the others, his mind locking onto one thing, only one of them wasn't there, where was Willow? 


	13. Chaos Calling

AN: One thing that I'm explaining now is that Cyber Sonic is the same as Silver Sonic. The machine created a cyborg body using modified DNA found at the military base from Sonic with machinery to create something stronger than it had been, with its memory files. He's the one who now has Willow; the final battle of this storyline is almost upon us.  
  
For a good example of a rather ticked off Sonic similar to what I have going on, read the End Game quadrillogy, its issues 47, 48, 49, and 50 I believe of the comics series, an enraged hedgehog is a nasty thing, destruction abounds.  
  
Janus watched the chaos building on the streets above, but he did not smile as he normally would, instead he seethed. Vaulk, the one being he actually trusted had gone and done something stupid, and gotten slain by the mortal pest who was causing the god of chaos so much grief.  
  
He had finally found the way to complete the ritual, but he still needed a few things to do so, his plans were almost complete, just one more thing would be needed to trigger an apocalypse that would eliminate the one who annoyed him so.  
  
Xander entered his house at a full run; he'd released the transformation in the driveway, remembering the destruction he'd caused after rushing in as Sonic, the shockwaves around him wrecking the entrance. His hand still crushed the note he had found on his door.  
  
Sonic the Hedgehog,  
I have the redhead, meet me in the park or she dies.  
CS  
  
He still didn't know who CS was, but he would find out, and he would enjoy destroying him or her, no one hurt his friends, no one!  
  
Something told him that he would need everything at his disposal to deal with this threat and he dumped the Emeralds and all the remaining Power Rings into his pack, leaving only two Rings out to transform with.  
  
He left the building, his hands were shaking with fury and he would not be denied vengeance.  
  
The harsh laughter tore through her sleep, waking her to the harsh reality. Her eyes fluttered open as she glanced around.  
  
A pale blue hedgehog stepped into view as Willow realized she couldn't move, her arms and legs were tied to the climbing dome, she was hanging by her limbs within it, imprisoned by the steel structure.  
  
"You see, my dear," the pale hedgehog chuckled, "I seem to now hold the keys to victory."  
  
"Who...who are you?" the terrified hacker stammered.  
  
"Call me Sonic," the cyborg laughed, "Cyber Sonic."  
  
Sonic shot through the streets as fast as he could go, his mind still pushing the barrier to transform again, but still unable to break through it. His pure rage tearing at it and his thoughts hoping that if he couldn't tear down that barrier, he wouldn't need the power to face this next foe, if his mind hadn't unlocked what Sonic had learned, he would never have survived the last fight, and his encounter with Silver Sonic required a miracle to survive.  
  
This coming fight would be something else, for him, he was reenergized by the Power Rings, but that wasn't all of what he needed, his pure anger fueled him on. If he had been paying attention, he would have realized that he was going at supersonic speeds, windows blasting in all directions due to the sonic booms, but at the moment he did not care, he had only one goal, to save his friend.  
  
He leaped skywards at the park, he hoped he could find his foe quickly, he seethed with anger as he scanned the area, locating what he believed was them, a figure standing in the playground, and another was trapped in the climbing dome.  
  
Suddenly his foe launched skywards, and he gasped, he stood face to face with another hedgehog, one that if not for the difference in color, looked exactly like a mirror image of him.  
  
"What?" he stammered, "Who the hell are you?"  
  
"I am Cyber Sonic, or perhaps you remember my previous form, Silver Sonic," the cyborg hedgehog laughed, "And well, let's, as you are fond of saying, do this!"  
  
"Well, then, I guess that trashing your robotic body wasn't enough, I'll enjoy taking you down!"  
  
The two struck out, Sonic using the skills he was drawing on, to gain enough time to free his friend. He took a hit and crashed through the slide, but was up in a flash, his blade out slicing through the ropes that held Willows hands, but at the cost of taking nasty hit.  
  
"Willow, run, get help," Sonic grunted as a second strike hit him, before he could take to the air once more.  
  
She ran for the school, hoping that everyone would be there, this would be a very bad day, fortunately it wasn't more then just across the street. Hopefully, with two slayers and everything else, it wouldn't turn out fatal for any of them.  
  
Sonic countered a strike with a snap kick, and focused, drawing in energy and prepared a counter.  
  
"Chaos Raptor!" he roared, releasing the energy, but Cyber Sonic simply evaded, but the blast tore through the ground, releasing a blast that revealed a hidden chamber.  
  
"You'll have to do better than that, hedgehog," the cyborg chuckled as he landed another blow.  
  
"Unless you're circuits are corrupted, you're a hedgehog as well!" Sonic retorted as he drove a foot into his opponent's stomach.  
  
Cyber Sonic crashed, tearing a furrow away from the crater as Sonic landed on the other side of it. It was a long enough break that he could look inside, and his already wide eyes opened wider, he had found Acaltha. He hoped the others would be there soon, he didn't know how to stop it, and he saw an odd two faced figure standing there below.  
  
And then the fight was on again, the cyborg striking over and over again at him, he blocked or avoided the strikes, feeling the ring surge wearing down, he needed another moment to get one, but the pale hedgehog had him falling back at full speed to evade the injuries he would have received otherwise.  
  
His mind was buzzing, the chaos energy was rising, and he felt time slowing again as he tried to tear through the barrier in his head, a slight crack developed, he felt energy trickle through him as he blocked a chain of strikes with a single move, his free hand pulling free a pair of rings, and he activated them.  
  
Instinctively, Sonic struck out with a Spin Dash, sending the cyborg crashing through the remains of the jungle gym.  
  
"Chaos Raptor!" he roared, the blast ripping yet another crater into the park, but Cyber Sonic dove for cover half of an instant before the impact.  
  
Willow entered the library panting for breath as everyone stared at her, explosions had shaken the school, but the positioning of the library hid the battle from them. The raw energy released was enough to force the watcher to his knees, and almost surprisingly, his current girlfriend as well, much to everyone's shock, though it really wasn't that much of a stretch that Giles would date someone who had some experiences with magic.  
  
"Sonic's in trouble," she managed to say through gasps for air.  
  
"So the rodent needs help, why should I care," Buffy roared, the hate she put on the speed freak from the loss of Angel.  
  
"He did save all of us," Giles commented as Oz just shrugged, "On several occasions."  
  
"I still don't like him, and you still have some explaining to do about earlier!" Buffy snapped at him.  
  
"Erm, Buffy, there is something you may want to know," Willow stammered as a resounding scream of pain filled the school.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, how can I say this, but..."  
  
"Well, out with it!"  
  
"Sonic is Xander."  
  
"What!"  
  
"You heard me, Xander is Sonic."  
  
Buffy grabbed a crossbow and dashed out, "I'm going to take out whoever is attacking him, and then I'm gonna kill 'im!"  
  
"Did that go well?" the redhead wondered as everyone chased after the blond slayer.  
  
Pain shot through Sonic, he felt the sharp metal of a chunk of the climbing dome that Willow had been trapped in as it tore through his shoulder, missing the bones, but the pain was intense. Searing, the metal glowed white hot from the energy of the second Chaos Raptor attack he had used, but it did not cauterize the wound like it could have.  
  
Sonic tore it from his shoulder and focused, drawing steel and closing his eyes to focus, he needed to draw on the power that still trickled into him, in his mind he hammered away at the barrier, only barely expanding the crack.  
  
He moved without thinking, sensing everything, his mind showing the world as a mix of energies that swirled about him, guiding him as he lashed out, striking his target with the flat of his blade, but taking a punch to his already wounded shoulder, that is when he screamed.  
  
His grip on the Sword of Acorn was broken and it tumbled away, out of reach as he hit the ground in the crater, leaving a smaller one from his impact on the floor near Acaltha.  
  
Then he sensed a darker power just as his calm was broken, raw chaos energy, mixed with malice and hatred far greater than any he had ever seen in someone. It was Janus, and he was attacking as well now.  
  
The two pronged attack drove the dark blue hedgehog backwards as soon as he climbed to his feet, but the blows were to fast and too many, he wasn't prepared for two foes, he was barely able to keep going in the first place.  
  
Cyber Sonic grabbed a long piece of metal from the wreckage of the playground and was preparing to drive it into Sonic, as the blue streaks blood coated the glove that Cyber Sonic held the sharp tipped metal piece, and began to lash out with it. 


	14. Emergance

AN: Well, I was planning on waiting to reveal that Sonic was Xander, but I couldn't come up with an idea as to how it would be possible to explain Xander just happening to vanish when Sonic does. Also as to a loose end from earlier, I was going to save this for the epilogue, but Snyder is in a mental institution due to his screaming about a blue creature that was out to get him.  
  
Sonic felt the wall, slowly cracking as he drove his mind at it like a battering ram, it seemed like his only hope.  
  
He saw death approaching, and he felt that there was nothing that he could do about it, his eyes snapped shut, and he didn't want to see it coming.  
  
A high pitched sound and a gasp of shock made him open his eyes to see Cyber Sonic staring at something, something with the Cyborg's ankle; a crossbow bolt was imbedded in the flesh.  
  
The machine did not know how to react as both Slayers joined the fray, the crossbow shattering across Cyber Sonic's face. The pale hedgehog fought both Slayers with ease as Sonic struggled to his feet, only to feel an impact that sent him flying to slam into the far wall of the now exposed chamber, appearing now similar to an amphitheater, Janus was on the offensive.  
  
The god hung back, firing energy at him, raw rage suppressing the knowledge that Chaos Energy was not the weapon to use in this situation. Sonic recovered swiftly, reaching out as he spotted his blade laying within reach here, white gloved hand encircling the weapon as he climbed to his feet.  
  
Suddenly his heart sunk as he saw Cyber Sonic hit Buffy low in the side with a laser burst, dropping the blond to the ground with a scream. It brought more of the barrier crashing down, he could feel it breaking as he charged the god with the blade activated, emotions failing him, only the embodiment of death remained fighting, his skills and the power of the sword creating havoc as he ran at his foe.  
  
Then he saw the cyborg lash out with the metal pole he had tried to skewer the speed freak with, driving it through Kendra's stomach, missing bones, but the tip still exited her back dropping her to the ground with the six foot spike still in her.  
  
"No," Sonic whispered as he collapsed, the anger surging through him, not the same hatred as what Janus was full of, but a righteous fury that burned within him.  
  
The chamber began to shake as the Chaos Emeralds within Sonic's pack began to glow and hum, resonating off of each other as Janus realized what was going on.  
  
"No!" the god raged, "Not now!"  
  
"This is impossible!" Cyber Sonic raged as its memory files pulled out the information on what was happening, "He can't be..."  
  
Sonic screamed as the barrier fell, shattering like glass dropped from a great height, the power surging through him as he seemed to float upwards.  
  
Janus felt the power being ripped from him and into the hedgehog, forming a sphere of energy to encase it as the transformation took place. The spikes grew larger as a golden glow encased him, replacing his usual deep blue coloration. Then the shell of light exploded outwards in a shockwave that tossed the god back and sent Cyber Sonic tumbling into Acaltha  
  
Super Sonic had emerged, and the ground was still shaking at his presence, Janus collapsed as the energy that sustained him was ripped out, leaving only a human there, the two faces merging into one.  
  
The glowing, chaos powered being moved faster than the eye could track, moving over to help Kendra.  
  
"Hold on," he said as he pulled the metal out of her, closing his eyes to keep the tired look in her face from reaching him, he drew on the power within him to throw the blood coated pole away as he opened his eyes once more, focusing the energy into the wounds now, sealing them, but he felt life leave the Jamaican slayer.  
  
"No," he whispered, "This will not happen!"  
  
He forced the energy into her, filling her as he focused.  
  
For a moment it looked like nothing had happened that it was a wasted effort, but then what happened next proved that miracles do happen.  
  
She took in a deep breath and her eyes fluttered open, and one word crossed her lips, "Huh?"  
  
"Good to see you to, but you have to move, troubles not over yet and the blond needs some help."  
  
She nodded as Xander started to move, but noticed that Buffy was already stirring, and Super Sonic still had one foe to deal with before he could take a breather, not that he needed one, but it would be a bit helpful.  
  
The glowing hedgehog scanned the area for a moment, seeing no motion other than that of the two slayers and those up out of the pit. He hovered about a foot off the ground as he reached down and picked up Kendra and carried her out, and returning to help the other slayer.  
  
"Xander?" Buffy asked, her mind still mixed up from the injury, but she was still thinking straight.  
  
"Yeah its me, sorry to tell you now," Sonic responded with a sad, half smile as he carried her out, "There is so much left to be done."  
  
"Why didn't you tell us?"  
  
"You already wanted Sonic's blood when I first really used the form, besides, if no one knew who Sonic was, then everyone else would be safe, Silver Sonic's first rampage showed me that, it didn't care what it destroyed, if it knew more about this me, it would have targeted the school to draw me out."  
  
"Why did you kill Angel?" she demanded, her anger rising.  
  
"I eliminated Angelus, not Angel, they shared a body, but they were different, Angel would rather have died than be responsible for another slaughter like Angelus used to do."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Sonic faced something similar before Halloween, I still have nightmares from it, ask Willow about Mecha Sonic, it should help you understand."  
  
As Super Sonic and Buffy spoke, Cyber Sonic stirred; reaching out with its blood coated hand and grasped the sword imbedded in the petrified demon, Acaltha, and drew the sword. The entire city shook, as if a shiver passed through the very planet.  
  
The glowing hedgehog turned, eyes opening wide in shock, "Oh no!"  
  
"What?" the slayer asked.  
  
"Cyber Sonic is opening the demon!"  
  
"Giles found only a little, but it takes the same blood to open it as to close it!"  
  
"Thanks," Sonic responded, "I'll deal with this!"  
  
He dropped to the floor of the former cavern, blade at the ready, the cyborg with another blade, both weapons glowing fiercely in the gloom, only one would win.  
  
Cyber Sonic lashed out, driving Super Sonic back with a combination of strikes, slashes and laser bursts that ripped through the area around the golden streak as he back flipped clear, landing in a crouch on the throne Janus had been using.  
  
Both warriors tensed and lunged, the final battle was joined. 


	15. Choices Made

AN: This is the final part of the actual storyline, there will be one more chapter after this, but that is more of a tying everything together for the next part. I've already decided on the name of the second storyline, 'Summer Vacation'. And there is a lot to do with it, besides, it will eventually give Sonic the D-Board.

Kat Hawkins- There may be, not quite sure as of yet, there won't be at least until after the next storyline though  
  
Super Sonic and Cyber Sonic collided midair, blades striking out, utter control meeting unrestrained fury. The crater was shaking like a high level quake, forcing the Scoobies back if they wanted to remain out of the high speed fight occurring below.  
  
The glowing hedgehog parried a strike and retaliated with a blast of raw chaos energy that hurled the cyborg backwards, leaving a crater where it smashed into the solid rock wall. Laser blasts reply as Super Sonic seems to dance for a moment, the flashes of crimson missing by a hairs breath before one hit by pure luck, sending the chaos powered fighter into the air to tumble four times before plowing into the floor.  
  
The energy spikes lighting up the air like a spotlight as the battle rages on, if anything becoming far more fierce in the process.  
  
A roar filled the room as both combatants seemed to pause in mid motion as they got to their feet, realizing that Acaltha could destroy them both. The danger is real, but neither warrior seems to care, their thoughts quickly snap back to the other as they reach their feet, blades at the ready.  
  
Super Sonic lashed out with an impressive chain of strikes that moved faster than the human or even a slayers eye could discern, even the hedgehog could see little more than a blur. Explosions of metal on metal rang out above the low roar and rumble of the demon coming to life.  
  
"Your weakening," Cyber Sonic hissed, "give into it, I'll make your end quick."  
  
"Never," the glowing one retorted, releasing another wave of energy, "And as for weakening, so are you, how does it feel to have that organic part now?"  
  
"It gives me the advantages of both, I am the ultimate life form in this universe!"  
  
"No, you have no idea what you're up against," Super Sonic said with a smile crossing his lips now, the brief pause allowing him to draw out a pair of Power Rings, "And this will let me kick your ass!"  
  
The two rings seemed to dissolve into a glittering dust of pure energy that circled Super Sonic and the Sword of Acorn, infusing both, the blade activating with the infusion as never before and the glow of the hedgehog seemed to increase, the ground shaking under the red shoes with a white stripe on each.  
  
"Play time is now officially over," Super Sonic chuckled as he charged the cyborg warrior, power flashing all around him, "Chaos Control!"  
  
The light seemed to grow as both hedgehogs seemed to vanish for a mere instant and then reappear with a sickening thud as Cyber Sonic was slammed into the wall.  
  
"You opened it, your blood will close it," Super Sonic hissed at the other one.  
  
"Check again," Cyber Sonic sneered back, both blades locked together, but Cyber Sonic's starting to crack against the powered up Sword of Acorn.  
  
The glowing hedgehog saw the bloody smear of a handprint just below the guard, but before the blade. His eyes trailed down the weapon, spotting the blood coated glove of the cyborg and then to his own shoulder where the injury was still visible.  
  
"No," he whispered.  
  
"Oh, yes, even if this shell is destroyed, I win, you have to destroy yourself," the pale blue hedgehog laughed as Super Sonic released him to collapse to the ground as the other backed away.  
  
The cyborg clutched at his throat, coughing as it gasped for air, the golden hedgehog backing away, slowly. His white gloved hand reaching up and touching the wound, it was sealed but, the thought died right then and there.  
  
"No," he managed to get out again.  
  
Cyber Sonic climbed to his feet, shifting its blade to a two handed grip and lunged.  
  
Super Sonic lashed out with a devastating blow that sent the cyborg tumbling out of the pit and out of sight just before he dropped to his knees to try to force his brain to think of something, his eyes drawn to the portal that was just beginning to form in front of the stone monster.  
  
The speed freak had a simple choice to make now, his memory flashing back to the words he had heard; the blood that awakens it needs to close it.  
  
He could do nothing and let the portal destroy everything, or he could sacrifice himself to save the world, being destroyed in the process.  
  
His choice now, and his alone as he launched upwards, his heart heavy, but he knew deep down within what he had to do, and that it was the right choice.  
  
His eyes scanned the pit and those around it, momentarily spotting Cyber Sonic, unconscious hands sparking as well as several other spots, under a shattered light, the electric charge having shorted out the half biological, half technological nightmare leaving it twitching, but neutralized.  
  
His eyes locked with each of the others as he slowly shook his head.  
  
"I'm sorry," he managed to say softly, meaning it as his mind flashed through what had brought this event, what had made it happen.  
  
The spell that gave Xander the power to become Sonic, the destruction of the statuette after the Emeralds drew power from the god of chaos. The fall of the Judge and Angelus. Janus bringing Silver Sonic to the Hellmouth, Vaulk, and now this, one last time to be the hero, one last option, his decision was made.  
  
Buffy and Willow saw the look in his eyes, the eyes with no emotion, no fear, no doubt, no pain, no hope, no love, the look of absolute sacrifice.  
  
"No," Buffy managed to choke out, moving towards the hedgehog, but stopped by the others.  
  
"Please no, Xander, don't go!" Willow screamed as the speed freak's eyes met hers for a moment.  
  
"I have to," he responded, tears coming from the warriors eyes as he prepared himself for what was to come, "Well, I guess that this is Game Over."  
  
And with that final statement, Super Sonic dove, sheathing the Sword of Acorn as he did it, drawing out all of his energy as he did so, Sonic accelerated, becoming a streak of light that burned into the memories of those watching, only light for a mere moment.  
  
"Look out you freak, here I come," Sonic hissed the instant he hit the portal, the instant before an event that would reach the news all around the world.  
  
The demon began to shake as the portal began to die down, a glow of the raw energy jammed down its throat exploding like an atomic bomb, shattering the petrified demon and throwing the Scoobies backwards and away like rag dolls, and all of the windows as far as LA shattered instantly. Night became day as energy surged through the tunnels under Sunnydale burned brightly, vampires catching fire from the pure energy the sacrifice had released, dusting them instantaneously, above energy seemed to burst forth, power lines surging and junctions busting. The vampires prowling the surface died even before their underground counterparts.  
  
The stream of light was visible from orbit the mere moment it existed, but within the atmosphere, it remained daylight as if it were high noon for hours, people waking to the miracle.  
  
The guardian smiled to himself slightly, his chosen had done it, succeeded where none else could. He had even managed to defeat a god with the victory, an unprecedented victory, but it also would have come with a horrendous cost, but that very power that had been drawn from Janus had changed the portal, tearing a chunk out of space time itself, destroying the hell dimension that he would have ended up in, the portal acting as a magnifying glass to the power surge.  
  
His chosen was alive, he could feel it, the question was not that though, but where and when the hero of the hour had ended up at.


	16. Picking Up The Pieces

AN: This story has been quite the ride, I already have plans for the sequel and I'm just fleshing it out. It's been fun everyone, as for where he is, you'll just have to figure that out from the hints I'm leaving or wait until the first part of 'Summer Vacation' shows up. I would definitely like to thank any reviewers and everyone who read this story, without you there this would never have expanded past the opening chapter, or at least after the second.  
  
One last question that my beta reader is still pestering me out is just who the Guardian is, well, that has something to do with way later, but he is on the good side, he just can't help out like he would like to due to the rules he agreed upon, even if his foes break them, he will only do what he can within that framework.  
  
The blinding light had died and Super Sonic relaxed slightly as he realized that he wasn't in Hell like the portal had been made to do. But he wasn't on the ground either, miles upwards and above the clouds. The full power of the Chaos Emeralds pierced the clouds and showed a place he had never seen before. It was beautiful and serene, but it wasn't anywhere near Sunnydale, and he was rather sure he wasn't above the same world he had been in mere instants earlier.  
  
Instinctively he flipped out Nicole.  
  
"Nicole, scan the area and report," he said, the panic in his tone of voice pushing the AI to work as fast as she could.  
  
"Location, five miles above sea level, nearest location, Ireland," she reported.  
  
"Well, then I head home, plot me a course to Sunnydale."  
  
"Connection to GPS satellites obtained, error, no reference to Sunnydale on local maps, the location on prior maps before the dimensional travel is empty, the only thing referenced as Sunnydale is a military base just outside of Los Angeles."  
  
"What? Use the scanning program, locate any reference to the paranormal, and anything with possible technology that can get us home."  
  
"Understood," the AI answered as Super Sonic lowered himself to the ground, gently touching ground.  
  
"Scan complete, two sources of requested energy signatures, not an exact match, but it does fit closely with magical parameters that you requested, also there are three possibilities that may have the requisite technology to send us home, two of them match the magical signatures, the other, while the least likely to have the technology, is the most accessible to us, it is within fifteen miles, on the surface. One of the other two is buried nearly ten miles underground and the other is underwater at a depth that is not easily accessible."  
  
"Just great, another Labyrinth Zone, just what I needed," Sonic snapped, his sarcasm coming back to him.  
  
"Interesting, the computer technology does not reach my own level, I am getting a full upload from their system and filtering it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I have identified the groups with the tech below ground and the one above ground, below ground there is a collection of races known together as fairies."  
  
"Do they know that we're here?"  
  
"Undoubtedly, our arrival here would have given headaches to every being with magical energy on the planet, the chaos energy disrupted the portal and left us here, also, I just sent them a little greeting by pining them."  
  
"You're playing Ping Pong with them?"  
  
"Honestly, don't you ever listen?"  
  
"Whatever, what is the projected response to this situation?"  
  
"Unclear at the moment, perhaps hostility."  
  
"Oh great," Super Sonic muttered as he relaxed and changed back into Sonic and then to Xander, "The welcoming party wants to shoot us."  
  
"Or it could be curiosity, I have insufficient data to make a conclusion as to how they would react."  
  
A pale blue hedgehog twitched slightly as he began to move. The light slowly drawing him awake. His eyes fluttered open and he scanned the wreckage around him, the computer parts of his being were empty as they reinitialized.  
  
His mind was blank, no memories, no past, no history. A thought bubbled up within him.  
  
"Who am I?"  
  
He crawled to his feet, no answer coming from the rattled recesses of his mind.  
  
Pain shot through his leg and he reached down, spotting an item that his mind identified as a crossbow bolt protruding from the leg, just above his sock.  
  
Without a second thought, he ripped it out and stared at it for a moment before tossing it away as the wound sealed, the nanobots inside of his bloodstream already sealing the damage and healing him, not even leaving a scar as the wound simply shrunk and vanished within thirty seconds.  
  
He tried to find his name, some self identification; one brushed his mind for a mere moment, "Cyber Sonic."  
  
But then it vanished, the name didn't sound right, it was not who he was, his mind searched and compared probabilities from the little information he had, choosing a name that would suit him.  
  
"I am Zero," he whispered, the tag identifying him now firmly in place.  
  
He headed out of town as fast as he could, one of the programs within him left him rather paranoid and the destruction around where he had come to was not something he wished to be connected to.  
  
The only stop that Zero made was to retrieve an interesting object, a sword that carried several streaks of dried blood, stains that matched the blood on his hand that he analyzed and confirmed was not his, the plot thickened.  
  
Janus' eyes slowly opened, pain filling the former god the instant his brain had awakened. The steady beeping of the machines around him kept him awake as he scanned the hospital room he was in. He tried to focus on his energy and found nothing, it was gone all of it, he wasn't able to focus like he had then a thought crossed his mind, he'd felt the power being ripped out of him during his foes transformation.  
  
He'd lost it all, his enemy had won and he was now...mortal.  
  
The Scoobies had come back in the morning after the cops had gone through it, the reporters still didn't know what to say about this, heck it was wide spread enough that the news was still commenting on it, theories spread from weapons test to terrorist threat to aliens, some even got the truth that it involved the supernatural.  
  
The watchers were in shambles after Sonic blew up most of the council, the others had fired Giles. Jenny Calendar had explained some of her past, mainly after noticing Willows reaction to the surge of energy that had floored her and Giles, Willow had nearly blacked out but remained on her feet. Buffy was close to completely shut down, her mind still working through the previous nights activities. The other Scoobies were picking up the pieces after the near obliteration of the entire non human population of Sunnydale.  
  
Willow had managed to discover that Janus was in the hospital in the psychiatric ward, in the padded room right next to their former principal, Snyder. But as of Cyber Sonic there was no word, he had vanished and vanished good.  
  
The redhead looked down into the crater from behind the police line and portable fencing at the burned out spot where Acaltha had been, the stone melted and creating an odd look, a perfect ring that glistened gold in the light.  
  
"Wherever you are Xander," Willow whispered, "Come back soon." 


End file.
